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Golden Years or Retirement Fears? Private Pension Inequality Among Canada’s Immigrants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2017

Josh Curtis  and
Naomi Lightman
Josh Curtis*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Bishop’s University
Naomi Lightman*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
†La correspondance et les demandes de tire-à-part doivent être adressées à : / Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to: Josh Curtis, Ph.D. Bishop’s University Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 <josh.curtis@ubishops.ca> or Naomi Lightman, Ph.D. University of Toronto 725 Spadina Ave. Toronto ON M5S 2J4 <naomi.lightman@mail.utoronto.ca>
†La correspondance et les demandes de tire-à-part doivent être adressées à : / Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to: Josh Curtis, Ph.D. Bishop’s University Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 <josh.curtis@ubishops.ca> or Naomi Lightman, Ph.D. University of Toronto 725 Spadina Ave. Toronto ON M5S 2J4 <naomi.lightman@mail.utoronto.ca>
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Abstract

Currently, many immigrants are disqualified from Canada’s public pension scheme because of residency requirements. In addition, decades of low income and labour market exclusion prohibit many Canadian immigrants from building adequate private pension savings throughout their working life. Together, these factors present serious concerns for immigrant seniors’ economic well-being. Using Canadian census data spanning a twenty-year period (1991–2011), we find that income from personal savings plans and investments has declined sharply for both native-born and immigrant Canadians, with recent immigrant cohorts faring worst. However, since 1991, native-born and immigrant men living in Canada for 40-plus years had major gains in private employer pensions (Registered Pension Plans; [RPPs]). Yet RPP income for all other immigrant cohorts remained stable or declined during these decades. Thus, the data demonstrate a worrisome growing private savings gap between native-born men and all others in Canada, with newer immigrants and women faring worst.

Résumé

En ce moment, de nombreux immigrants n’ont pas droit à participer au régime de retraite publique du Canada en raison des critères de résidence légale. De plus, des décennies de faible revenu et de l’exclusion du marché du travail défendent à nombreux immigrants canadiens d’augmenter une épargne-pension ou des économies suffisantes tout au long de la période de la vie quand ils travaillent. Ces facteurs, pris ensemble, posent de sérieuses préoccupations pour le bien-être des immigrants âgés. À l’aide des données du recensement canadien pendant une période de vingt ans (1991–2011), nous constatons que les revenus tirés des épargnes et des investissements personnels ont fortement diminué chez les canadiens d’origine et les immigrants, les dernières cohortes d’immigrants étant les plus touchées. Toutefois, depuis 1991, les hommes d’origine canadienne et les immigrants vivant au Canada depuis 40 ans ou plus ont montré des gains importants dans les pensions des employeurs privés. Ainsi, les données montrent un écart inquiétant de plus en plus grand entre les hommes nés au Canada et tous les autres au Canada, les nouveaux immigrants et les femmes étant les plus démunis.

Keywords

agingsocial policyprivate pensionseconomic inequalityCanadian immigrantsvieillissementpolitique socialepensions privéesinégalité économiqueimmigrants canadiens
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , June 2017 , pp. 178 - 195
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Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2017 

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Footnotes

*

The authors have made equal contributions to this publication. The research presented is part of an ongoing collaboration by the two authors, with order of authorship systematically rotated from one paper to the next. Funding for this research was provided by the authors’ Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowships (Files No: 756-2014-0117 and 756-2015-0381). We wish to thank Bob Andersen for his help in the preparation of this manuscript.

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