OTTAWA -- Young Canadians entering the job market today are better educated, but they are earning comparatively less money than their parents did a generation ago, Canada's national statistics agency said today.

Statistics Canada said the trend began 25 years ago and does not appear to be slowing down.

It is especially the case for young men entering the work force.

The agency said median earnings for full-time male workers between ages 25 and 29 in 1980 were the equivalent of 43,767 Canadian dollars ($43,022) in 2005 wages. By the year 2000, earnings dipped to 38,110 Canadian dollars ($37,481) and in 2005 the median wage was 37,680 Canadian dollars ($37,055).

While women have traditionally earned less than men, the year-over-year drop has proven far less dramatic.

Young women made 32,813 Canadian dollars ($32,281) in inflation-adjusted dollars in 1980. Their median salaries dropped a mere 234 Canadian dollars ($230) by 2000 and in 2005 they were 32,104 Canadian dollars ($31,585).

The latest data came from Canada's 2006 census.

The lower salaries have implications for the generation's long-term savings.

"When people reach the age of 30 or 35, many of them have accumulated less money than their counterparts did in the mid 1970s," Statistics Canada analyst Rene Morissette said.

This is because in addition to earning lower wages, young people are staying in school longer and young men seem less likely to find full-time work once out of school, Morissette said.

The trend toward reduced wages for young males is one that emerged in the early 1980s in many economically developed countries, Morissette said, noting economists speculated new technologies were pushing out young workers.

Even though unemployment is low in Canada, there's been a shift toward a service-based economy. Morissette suggested the shift from manufacturing to services could be responsible for about 15 percent of the decline in wages.

While many have opted to stay in school longer because they believe that a post-secondary education will get them a better, higher paying job, others return to school after failing to break into the work force, Morissette said.