Retirement, health and employment among those 55 plus
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Studies by...
By Jungwee Park
This study examines four distinct states of retirement among Canadians age 55 and older: fully retired; partially retired; previously retired but returned to work; and never retired.
Almost 60% of the fully retired belonged to the two lowest income groups compared to less than 30% of those who had never retired. Retirees also reported poorer health than other groups even after controlling for age differences.
The partially retired were the most likely to report that they retired because they were financially able to do so. Accordingly, two-thirds of the partially retired worked less than 30 hours per week compared to 11% of the never-retired and 22% of returnees.
Those who had returned to work were the most likely to be in the top income bracket, corresponding to their high average level of education. Nevertheless, one-half reported that financial considerations contributed to their decision to return to work.
Almost 40% of never-retired workers reported that their financial plans for retirement were less than adequate. A larger proportion of this group still had a mortgage on their homes compared to the fully and partially retired.
Immigrants and visible minorities were over-represented in the never-retired group.
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