2.4 Changes over time

Recent longitudinal evidence suggests that less-educated workers are not only more likely to be employed in low-wage jobs, but they are also more likely to stay in these jobs. Janz (2004) used the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics to investigate the income mobility of full-time, lowwage workers between 1996 and 2001. Her results are shown below in Table 2.8: 80 percent of university graduates who were employed in low-wage work in 1996 had ‘moved up’ to higherwage work by 2001, while less than half of low-wage workers with high-school education or less had done the same.

Table 2.8: Income mobility by level of education
Education level % of low-wage workers9 in 1996 who ‘moved
up’10 in income by 2001
High-school or less 46
Some post-secondary education (no degree) 56
University degree 50

Source: adapted from Janz, 2004

The link between education and skills

There is also a strong relationship between educational attainment and skill level. Data from the recent International Adult and Life Skills Survey indicate that individuals with low levels of initial education tend to have low literacy skills as adults. The survey measured three types of literacy: prose, document, and numeracy. These measures correspond to information processing skills needed to perform everyday tasks at home, at work, and in the community. Literacy is measured on a scale from 0 to 500 and then grouped into five levels of competence with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. Individuals with only level 1 or level 2 literacy skills have marginal or limited capabilities. As Figure 2.2 shows, 80 percent of the population aged 16 and over who have not completed high-school achieved literacy levels of only either 1 or 2. While only 52 percent of high-school graduates achieve at least Level 3, this ratio increases to 64 percent and 78 percent for college and university graduates, respectively.

9 ‘Low-wage workers’ are here defined as having an hourly income that would place them below the Low-Income Cut-Off Threshold (2001). In 1996, this cut-off equated to an hourly wage of $10.95.
10 ‘Moving up’ was defined in this study as having an hourly income more than 10 percent in excess of the 2001 LICO. This equated to an hourly wage of $13.26 or greater, in 2001 dollars.