Thread by @ArmineYalnizyan

When @rcarrick interviewed me for this piece, he was puzzling over why women's share of RRSP contributions didn't rise over the past two decades (2000-2018), given women's rising employment rates and somewhat lower wage disparities.
Good questions, right? /2

https://twitter.com/rcarrick/status/1234459295871315968

@rcarrick Five points + an issue about measurement.
1. Women *are* contributing more $ to RRSPs over time, but their share did not substantially rise from 2000-2018. The fastest growth in women's share of contributions was from 1979 (23%) to 1989 (33%). 2018: 39% www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/75-0… /3

@rcarrick 2. Women's educational attainment rates has improved over this period. What is often ignored is so have men's rates.
What is also striking: employment rates for all levels of educational attainment, and for both genders, are falling. Check out these graphs. /4

@rcarrick But aren't women making more money than they used to? Progress in closing the gender wage gap has virtually stalled out since 2011. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-004-…
The most rapid reduction in the wage gap happened in Canada between 1970 and 1990 (see p.11) www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75f0002… /5

@rcarrick Most important: women’s employment rates, irrespective of educational attainment, are lower than in 2007, as are men’s (bigger drop). Partly due to population aging, but also uneven regional econ opportunities.
If you're not earning, you're less likely to use tax-shelters. /6

@rcarrick Last point is technical re how we know what we know: the data used to analyse trends are from the T1FF sample files which tend to undercount divorced and single women, who include those with more education/independence/ ability to save. demographic-research.org/volumes/vol41/… pp. 1467-1468
~fin