• 32
Percentage of two-parent families working full-time, year-round in 2005, more than double what it was in 1980 (15 per cent). (Source)
• 51
Percentage of single mothers working full-time, year-round in 2005, up from 43 per cent in 1980. (Source)
• 62.6
Percentage of women in Canada who had paid employment in 2009, up from 53.8 per cent in 1984. (Source, page 262)
• 72
Percentage of men in Canada who had paid employment in 2009, down from 76.7 per cent in 1984. (Source, page 262)
• 2.3
Percentage increase in part-time jobs from 2008 to 2009, countering the 2.5 per cent loss in full-time jobs. (Source, page 267)
• 37.1
Percentage of Canadians aged 25-44 who said working part-time in 2009 wasn’t their choice — there was no full-time work available. Compared to 27.7 per cent of workers over 45. (Source, page 277)
• 2.7 million
Number of self-employed workers in Canada in 2009, up dramatically from 1.3 million in 1979. (Source, page 285)
• 2.3 million
Number of full-time workers in Canada who had rotating shifts or irregular schedules in 2005. (Source)
• 29
Percentage of shift workers who expressed somewhat more dissatisfaction with their work-life balance in 2005. (Source)
• 35.5
Number of hours worked, on average, in Quebec each week in 2006 — the shortest average work week in Canada. (Source)
• 38.9
Number of hours worked, on average, in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006 – the highest average work week in Canada. (Source)
• 50
Average number of hours Canadian immigrants with more than one job worked in 2008 — 2.3 hours per week more than Canadian-born multiple-job holders. (Source)
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s Trish Hennessy has long been a fan of Harper Magazine’s one-page list of eye-popping statistics, Harper’s Index. Instead of wishing for a Canadian version to magically appear, she’s created her own index — a monthly listing of numbers about Canada and its place in the world. Hennessy’s Index — A number is never just a number — comes out on the first of each month.
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