Notes

^1.

CFCS respondents were asked about their employment status at the time of the survey. Broad response categories were provided, such as employed, self-employed, retired, not working and looking for work, not working and not looking for work, and doing unpaid household work. The majority of respondents aged 65 or older identified themselves as retired.

^2.

Respondents who reported that they do not have any bills or financial commitments are included with respondents who reported that they keep up with all bills and financial commitments without any problems. About 2% to 5% of retirees responded that they have no bills or financial commitments, while this was the case for fewer than 1% of labour force participants in each age group.

^3.

Labour Force Survey Annual Averages.

^4.

Marginal effects shown in Table 4 are calculated by setting other characteristics in the model to "reference group." See note at bottom of Table 4.

^5.

The shares of retired CFCS respondents with household incomes under $20,000 are 7%, 36%, 44%, and 29% among married/living common-law, widowed, separated/divorced, and never-married respondents, respectively. The shares living in owned accommodation (with no mortgage) are 70%, 55%, 37%, and 47% for these marital statuses, respectively.

^6.

This was confirmed in a supplementary set of regression models (not shown) that included only marital status, household income, and housing tenure.

^7.

Fewer than 100 retired respondents in the sample are immigrants who have landed since 1980, and this may contribute to the non-significance of the variable in the multivariate models.

^8.

The fact that 61% of labour force participants aged 25 to 64 include workplace pension income in their retirement plans may appear high given that pension coverage rates based on the Pension Plans in Canada (PPIC) database are currently around 38%. The 61% figure cited above excludes labour force participants aged 18 to 24 as well as labour force participants who report that they are not preparing for retirement. These exclusions increase the prevalence of pension coverage among remaining respondents. Moreover, anticipated workplace pension income reported in the CFCS could pertain to pension coverage having taken place earlier (or anticipated coverage to take place later) in the respondent's working life, or to pension benefits that will be received by the respondent's spouse. Finally, the PPIC is administrative data while the CFCS is survey data, and the two sources use different methodologies to measure different concepts (specifically, pension coverage at a given point in time versus receipt of pension income at a future point in time).

^9.

Respondents were allowed to select more than one response to this question. Over half (52%) cited earnings and/or business income as an anticipated revenue source in retirement.

^10.

In 2008, for example, the average age of retirement among self-employed workers was 65.4 years, compared to 62.0 years among paid employees in the private sector. Labour Force Survey Annual Averages.