New moms more likely than other women to become self-employed: StatCan

By The Canadian Press

A new study from Statistics Canada says that new mothers are more likely to become self-employed than other women who work in full-time or part-time jobs.

The study released today finds that the probability of new mothers making the jump to self-employment is 1.2 percentage points higher than other working women, which the researchers say is a statistically significant difference.

An analysis of data from the 2006 census and the 2011 national household survey shows that new mothers in health occupations were the most likely to remain in their field after becoming self-employed, while new mothers in business, finance and administrative jobs were most likely to change fields.

The researchers at the national statistics office say the findings suggest that becoming self-employed helps women with young children improve their work-family balance and tailor their hours to their child-care needs.

The study adds to the body of evidence about how mothers balance work with young children and comes as the federal government is looking at measures aimed at new parents.

The Liberals have promised to bring in legislation to give federally regulated workers the ability to request flexible work hours for personal reasons and to extend parental leave to 18 months, but without an increase in benefits.


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