This summer’s employment rates for Canada’s students of all ages were some of the lowest on record, according to Statistics Canada.
The average employment rate from May to August for 15 to 24-year-old students was 48 per cent, compared to 49 per cent last year, according to Statistics Canada’s latest Labour Force Survey.
This employment rate is even lower than the summer of 2009, when summer employment was hit especially hard by the labour market downturn, the report stated.
The Labour Force Survey collects labour market information about young people aged 15 to 24 between the months of May to August who were attending school full-time in March with intentions to return to school full-time.
The report indicates most students between 15 and 24 worked an average of 25 hours a week throughout summer 2012.
These numbers were the same as summer 2011 and higher than the average work week in 2009 at 23 hours a week.
Statistics Canada defines ‘employment rate’ as the number of employed persons as a percentage of the population 15 years of age and over.
The rate for a particular group (for example youth aged 15 to 24) is the number employed in that group as a percentage of the population for that group.
In another study published by Statistics Canada, raising tuition costs are cited as a factor that has led to students working increased hours and competing in the work force.
Evidence presented by the study also indicates that the low employment rates have been caused by the recent economic downturn.
The full-time post-secondary student employment rate fell by over 3 percentage points between the fall term of 2008 and the winter 2009 term.
Although most students do continue to work full time over the course of summer months, employment patterns in the last five years have indicated that it has become more competitive and that no one is immune to the economic downturn.
