Understanding Employment Participation of Older Workers: The Canadian Perspective

Abstract

Canada is expecting rapid population aging over the coming decades, a fact that has led many observers to question the sustainability of its pension systems. The effects of population aging, however, could be mitigated by an extension of the working life. This article presents the results of a critical review of Canadian knowledge about the determinants of retirement age and labour-market participation of older workers. The determinants are grouped under ten “domains” covering micro, meso, and macro levels: labour market, legislation, financial factors, social position, domestic domain, human resource management, work-related factors, health, work ability, and motivation.

The early retiree divests the health workforce: a quantitative analysis of early retirement among Canadian Registered Nurses and allied health professionals

“…The health professions are female-dominated, and according to US data, 60% of unpaid care providers are female [39]. In addition, female care providers are more likely than male care providers to provide caregiving as a reason for retirement [1]. Glenn [40] argues that for many women—whose roles often include mother, wife, and daughter—the duty to care is a role obligation.…”

“…Canada is one of many countries confronted with the possibility of age-related labor shortages [1]. It has become increasingly necessary to develop a framework to incentivize retention of older workers in the labor market [2].…”

“…It has become increasingly necessary to develop a framework to incentivize retention of older workers in the labor market [2]. Few would disagree that delaying age of retirement, at a population level, could significantly reduce the magnitude of economic consequences resulting from population aging [1]. Delaying retirement is of particular importance in health care, which is affected in two ways by the aging of the population: first, per capita health expenditures and requirement for health services increase with age [3], and second, the health care workforce is also aging [4].…”

Emerging issues in the life cycle perspective in the context of population peaking

“…This is also important because in Canada the public pension programs (OAS and C/QPP) are not very generous. The replacement rate of public pension is 45 per cent for median earners in Canada, compared to 54 per cent for OECD countries (Bélanger et al 2016), and thus a large share of the future income of the elderly has to come from their private pension plans or other form of wealth accumulated during their working life. To get a more useful description of the situation, it is preferable to use the economic dependency ratio (EDR) that takes into account the difference in activity rates.…”

Determinantes do trabalho remunerado entre brasileiros mais velhos usando modelagem de equações estruturais: evidências do ELSI-Brasil

“…Pesquisas em países de alta renda têm mostrado que a participação das pessoas mais velhas na força de trabalho não é determinada por um único fator. Características individuais (sexo, idade, status socioeconômico) e da família interagem com os fatores relacionados à organização do trabalho e com os fatores contextuais, como mercado de trabalho e cobertura do sistema previdenciário 2,7 . Outro exemplo de complexidade na participação dos mais velhos na força de trabalho é que muitos determinantes desta participação estão sujeitos a mudanças substanciais e, às vezes, temporalmente muito rápidas 7,8 .…”