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A 50-year-old worker in 2008 could expect to stay in the labour force 3.5 years longer than in the mid-1990s.
Ottawa (1 Nov. 2011) – According to new Statistics Canada data, older workers have been increasingly delaying their retirement since the mid-1990s. This is consistent with the increase in the employment rate of older Canadians that began about the same time.
In 2008, an employed 50-year-old had an expected additional 16 years at work. This is roughly 3.5 years longer than workers of the same age in the mid-1990s, who could expect to work 12.5 more years. The 3.5-year increase was the same for both men and women.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a marked trend toward early retirement prompted by high public-sector deficits and downsizing among private-sector organizations. However, since the mid-1990s, the tide appears to have turned.
From a low of 22% in 1996, the employment rate of individuals 55 and older climbed steadily to 34% in 2010. Their employment rate in 2010 was even higher than in 1976 when it stood at 30.2%.
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