A Statistics Canada employment study suggests that women are no more likely to leave their jobs than their male counterparts, challenging the traditional view that women are more likely to quit because of family obligations.

The study, released Friday, says the notion that women are more likely to be absent or quit their jobs has been used to justify the pay inequity between the sexes. 

'The current gender differences in quits and absenteeism are not significant factors to explain certain gender differences in labour market outcomes.'—Xuelin Zhang, Statistics Canada

But the federal agency says that while more women than men quit their jobs in the 1980s, levels evened off in the 1990s. 

Statistics Canada analyst Xuelin Zhang says that today differences between the sexes are insignificant. The study also found that in terms of paid sick leave, women on average took one day more each year than men.

"Taken together, these results imply that, in Canada, the current gender differences in quits and absenteeism are not significant factors to explain certain gender differences in labour market outcomes, such as the wage gap between men and women," the study says.

Gap nearly bridged by 2002

For example, the study found that 5.5 per cent of men quit their jobs in 1984 as compared with seven per cent of women. In contrast, 7.7 per cent of women left their jobs in 2002, just slightly above the 7.6 per cent of men.

Zhang says outdated ideas about women's absenteeism may have been used to hold back women workers, creating a career gap between the sexes.

"One explanation for these differences is that women are more likely to quit, more likely to be absent and to take more days of absence than men, and since quits and absences are costly to employers … a cost-minimizing employer would hesitate to hire, train or promote female workers, and would also pay them lower wages," the study says.

The study also noted that 4.2 per cent of women took temporary leaves for pregnancy and maternity in 2002, creating a significant gap in temporary leaves between men and women aged 25 to 34.