Minimum wage workers are more often than before people aged 55 and over, and less often than before women.
The Institute of Statistics of Quebec (ISQ) revealed this data on the evolution of the minimum wage over the past 25 years on Monday. The publication of this study comes as the minimum wage in Quebec will increase from $15.25 per hour to $15.75 this Wednesday 1er may.
Thus, the share of workers aged 55 and over who held a minimum wage job in 2023 was 16%, compared to 6% in 1998.
In an interview, Luc Cloutier-Villeneuve, labor statistics analyst at the ISQ, explains this phenomenon by two factors: the general aging of the population and the greater participation of people aged 55 and over in the labor market.
“The 55 and over group has grown in importance over time – I’m talking about the group both demographically, but also in the job market. There is aging and there is also greater participation among those aged 55 and over. So, this group, by taking more space on the labor market, the possibility that they can occupy more jobs at minimum wage is proven,” summarized Mr. Cloutier-Villeneuve.
“We are a little surprised, because we could say: normally, these people have more experience, therefore work above the minimum wage. Here, there may be a phenomenon, because the employment rate of female workers aged 55 and over has increased. So, that means that there are people, over time, in this age group, who have entered the job market. And what that translates into 2023 is that there is a certain proportion who do not necessarily have a lot of experience, or have been without work for a long time, and there, return to the job market. At that point, the entry point is the minimum wage,” he summarized.
The women
Another trend: proportionally, women occupy these minimum wage jobs a little less than 25 years ago. The proportion increased from 60% to 55% from 1998 to 2023.
The analyst at the ISQ explains this phenomenon by the fact that women have a higher level of education than 25 years ago, in particular. But the fact remains that they are still over-represented in this area, he emphasizes.
“The women were able to catch up; they had some catching up to do compared to men and they are more educated, so, obviously, that allows them to extricate themselves. But the fact remains that they remain over-represented, because they represent a little less than 50% of all salaried employment,” noted Mr. Cloutier-Villeneuve.
Longer
Another trend noted in the study: workers are staying longer than before in minimum wage jobs.
Mr. Cloutier-Villeneuve puts forward a possible explanation: “Young people, by working more, may have held minimum wage jobs for longer during their studies, whereas before, this was perhaps less frequent. Yes, there was a certain proportion who worked, but others preferred to devote themselves entirely to studies. »
Today, “we can think that they combine studies and work more frequently and for longer periods,” summarizes the ISQ analyst.
Generally speaking, in 2023, there were 177,000 people in Quebec who worked at minimum wage, compared to 164,000 in 1998. In 2023, this represented 4% of the salaried workforce.
Minimum wage jobs are often found in retail and the accommodation and food service industry.