Canadian seniors are being forced to keep working due to inflation and other factors.
As Canada’s population gets older and life expectancy keeps increasing, Canadian-born and immigrant seniors may alleviate downward pressures on the overall employment rate through their involvement in the labour market, says Statistics Canada.
Many seniors work past their mid-60s for various reasons. Some find it necessary to keep working because of inadequate retirement savings, mortgage payments, unforeseen expenses. Others choose to work to provide a sense of personal fulfillment, stay active and remain engaged.
Working by choice rather than necessity may have important implications for the well-being of seniors. Furthermore, data on employment by choice and necessity may help employers and policy makers understand the factors that influence seniors’ retirement decisions.
A new StatsCan article examines the degree to which seniors aged 65 to 74 worked by choice or necessity in 2022. Canadian seniors must keep working due to inflation and other factors
Of all Canadian-born and immigrant seniors aged 65 to 74, 21% were employed in 2022. Nine percent reported working by necessity and 12% reported working by choice. Those working by necessity represented 351,000 individuals that year.
Immigrant seniors were more likely than their Canadian-born counterparts to work by necessity in 2022. Of all immigrant men aged 65 to 74, 15% reported working by necessity in 2022. The corresponding percentage was 9% for Canadian-born men. Immigrant women (9%) were also more likely than Canadian-born women (6%) to report working by necessity.
