Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The second half of the 20^th century saw large reductions in the gender wage gap. However, the pace of these reductions has slowed considerably in the last 20 years and the gender wage gap persists. Active Labour Market Policies such as Skills Development programs are suggested as one possible avenue to working towards gender wage parity.

Current evidence on the effectiveness of government operated Skills Development programs is mixed. Women have been shown to make more frequent use of employment programs in comparison to men suggesting that they would be more likely to benefit from such programs. In contrast, Skills Development programs are also linked to switching occupations which can lead to the destruction of occupation-specific human and social capital. This study aims to address this discrepancy in the research literature by determining whether Skills Development programs have an observably greater effect on labour market outcomes for women in comparison to men.

Methods

The current study employs a quasi-experimental design to analyse data from the Labour Market Programs Data Platform (LMPDP) from 1996 to 2018. The LMPDP is a large collection of linked administrative data created by the Government of Canada. It includes tax records, records of employment, and government employment programs for employment insurance users in Canada. Using Propensity Score Matching in order to control for possible bias in accessing government operated employment programs, this study will compare the impact of Skills Development programs on women and men.

Results

The results of the study support the hypothesis that Skills Development programs offer greater gains for women than for men. The study also finds that this effect is more pronounced when moving from jobs that are lower paying in comparison to those that are higher paying.

Discussion

The results of the current study have important implications for Active Labour Market Policies. Publicly funded employment programs that support groups who have been traditionally disadvantaged by the labour market are likely to have positive impacts in the interests of employment equity. Specifically, skills development training programs offer greater benefit to women and may be an effective strategy for addressing the gender wage gap.