Post-school education and labour force participation in Canada and Australia

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Résumé (français)

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Résumé (anglais)

A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) into youth labour markets in OECD countries highlights that, in 2006, half of all young people aged 20 to 24 years in Canada held a post-school qualification, in contrast to 38 per cent in Australia. This is a difference that deserves closer examination, especially when Australia is seeking to considerably increase participation in tertiary education. This study provides a comparison of the post-school education systems of Australia and Canada using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australia Youth (LSAY) and the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey (YITS). The results indicate that the Canadian college system is more attractive to high achieving school graduates than is the somewhat comparable Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. Key messages include: the speculation that the Australian VET sector provides students with low educational outcomes or who are from less advantaged family backgrounds with educational opportunities that are not present in the Canadian system; in contrast to the Canadian college system, the Australian VET system is not considered an educational pathway of choice for higher achieving school students or those from more advantaged backgrounds; perhaps this is because Canadian colleges offer a clear pathway to university; and high educational attainment helps protect young women against withdrawal from the labour market once they become parents, with this increased attachment to the labour market likely to have an impact on employment and earnings chances over the life course.