Applied Research Bulletin - Volume 4, Number 2 (Summer-Fall 1998) - September 1998

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Is High School Enough?

More young Canadians than ever before are completing high school and going on to postsecondary education. In fact, young people appear to be aware that as Canada's economy becomes increasingly knowledge-based, more jobs require higher levels of education and skills. A report released recently by Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada, High School May Not Be Enough, sheds more light on the nature of young people's education, training, and labour market experiences in the 1990s.

As previously noted (Applied Research Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 1), the 1991 School Leavers Survey (SLS) indicated that 18 percent of 20-year-olds had left high school without receiving a high school diploma or its equivalent. Four years later, the 1995 School Leavers Follow-Up Survey (SLFS) revealed that a good portion of these leavers had returned to the classroom. By 1995, the rate of school leavers had dropped to 15 percent among this same group of young people at age 24. Looked at another way, one in four of those who were leavers in 1991 had returned to school and become a graduate by 1995.

Completing High School a Longer Process for Some

Young people chose many different pathways to make their school-work transitions. Among youth aged 22 to 24 who were high school graduates as of 1995, 11 percent graduated at age 20 or older. Institutions and programs that make high school studies or equivalencies accessible to adults likely played an important role for these older graduates. High school non-completion rates for youth at ages 20 and 24 varied considerably by province. Saskatchewan and Alberta had the lowest proportions of school leavers; Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec had the highest.

High School Non-Completion Rates of Youth

	Age 20 in 1991 (Percentages)	Age 24 in 1995 (Percentages)
Canada	18	15
Newfoundland	24	19
Prince Edward Island	25	21
Nova Scotia	22	17
New Brunswick	20	16
Quebec	22	19
Ontario	17	14
Manitoba	19	14
Saskatchewan	16	11
Alberta	14	11
British Columbia	16	13
Source: Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada, High School May Not Be Enough. An Analysis of Results from the School Leavers Follow-up Survey, 1995, 1998, p. 10

Many Young People Still Have Low Levels of Education

Despite high levels of postsecondary participation among Canadian youth, 11 percent of the 1991 cohort were high school leavers without further education or training. Another 17 percent were high school graduates without any further education or training. Taken together, nearly three in ten people, aged 22 to 24, had relatively low levels of educational attainment.

In an increasingly highly educated society, having "low education" could be considered to include not just high school leavers, but also youth who complete high school but do not pursue further education or training. Some of these less educated youth appear to be constrained by their backgrounds. For example, youth with less education tend to come from families with less education.

Population represented: 1,136,000
Source:	School Leavers Follow-up Survey, 1995

Low Levels of Education = Low Levels of Skill Use

Analysis which examined various factors associated with skill use for the 22- to 24-year-olds concluded that education and employment status are both extremely important. Young people who were employed or who were postsecondary students were most likely to have reported higher levels of skill use and self-assessed skill abilities.

Entering the Labour Market

As a result of the economic recession and the subsequent slow recovery period, transitions were more difficult for many young people during the first half of the 1990s. The observations from the 1995 School Leavers Follow-Up Survey research supports findings from the 1980s that transitions from school to work had become quite complex, that there was no clear point of transition from school to work, and that young people combined work and studies in many diverse ways. This pattern has continued in the 1990s.

After high school, 23 percent of all 22- to 24-year-olds had never had a job that lasted at least six months and involved 20 hours of work or more. The incidence of never having had such a job was highest among those who were postsecondary students at the time of the survey (42 percent) and among women without a high school diploma (33 percent). Over one-third of all youth aged 22 to 24 had such a job within the first six months of leaving high school.

Quality of Youth Employment

Non-standard employment (part-time work, temporary employment and self-employment) represented 41 percent of total youth employment. When students were excluded, the percentage was 36 percent. This compares to a total of 31 percent for the work force as a whole during 1995.

In 1995, one in four 22- to 24-year-olds with jobs was employed part-time. This proportion was higher than for the labour force as a whole (19 percent). Excluding students, however, only 15 percent were in part-time jobs. Attendance at school or training programs was the largest single reason for part-time employment.

After high school, many first jobs that lasted at least six months and involved 20 hours of work or more were really still "student" jobs. Over time, young people who gained the appropriate skills and experience tended to move out of these "student" jobs and into other sectors. There was also evidence of some movement from lower to higher levels of skill, especially among youth with postsecondary qualifications.

Overall, 41 percent of young people with jobs had taken career or job-related education or training such as programs, courses, workshops, seminars, and tutorials. The rate was lowest for high school leavers (28 percent) and highest for postsecondary students (60 percent). Most job-related training by young Canadians is undertaken by those who already have higher levels of education.

Labour Market Outcomes Vary Considerably by Educational Status

There were some advantages in having a high school diploma—even for those who did not undertake further education. For example, graduates found jobs more quickly than leavers and spent less time being unemployed. However, high school graduates who had postsecondary education or training were substantially better off than both leavers and those graduates who did not pursue further education. For example, postsecondary graduates had a higher labour force participation rate than leavers and high school graduates, and they also enjoyed a lower unemployment rate.

Labour Force Status of Youth, Ages 22 to 24
In the Week Before the Survey

	Labour Force Participation Rate (Percentages)	Unemployment Rate (Percentages)
School Leavers	81	21
High School Graduates	85	13
University Graduates	96	9*
Other Postsecondary Graduates	96	10
* The asterix indicates a coefficient of variation between 16.6% and 33.3%. This figure is less reliable than the others. Source: Human Resources Development Canada and Statistics Canada, High School May Not Be Enough. An Analysis of Results from the School Leavers Follow-up Survey, 1995, 1998

Work Ethic Is Strong in Young Canadians

An extremely small percentage of youth were not looking for work because they "believed no work was available," or because they were simply "not interested in finding work." This is consistent with other studies that have found that the work ethic among young Canadians is strong.

High School Completion Is Important — But Is It Enough?

At age 22 to 24, the young people under study were still very much in the midst of their transitions. Nevertheless, the analysis of the School Leavers surveys adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that in today's economy, higher education is the key to improved labour market and life circumstances. This fundamental truth should underpin decisions made by individuals as well as policy makers.

Youth with a high school diploma and no more still do somewhat better than youth without a high school diploma. And, by opening the door to further studies, high school graduation is a critical step in gaining access to high-skill, higher paying work for those who aspire to it. In an increasingly knowledge-based economy and society, high school may not be enough.

But the pathway from school to work involves far more than educational attainment. Other conditions are also necessary for our young people to make successful school-work transitions. Developmental factors, the quality of educational experiences and the availability of work for young people across the country must also be considered. Analysis concerning many of these critical factors will become available through the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, as well as through a longitudinal survey on youth in transition now being developed by Human Resources Development Canada together with Statistics Canada.

About the Surveys Between September and December 1995, Statistics Canada, in partnership with Human Resources Development Canada, conducted the School Leavers Follow-up Survey (SLFS). The initial 1991 School Leavers Survey interviewed nearly 10,000 young people aged 18-20 to document their characteristics and the circumstances of their leaving school. Four years later, the 1995 SLFS re-interviewed about two-thirds of the same respondents, by then aged 22 to 24, to explore the school-work transitions of young people beyond high school. The survey was designed to examine transitions not as a one-way movement from school into the world of work, but as a variety of movements that can occur between education, training and the labour market.

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