Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T07:22:07.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Invisible Poor: Canada's Retired Widows*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Lynn McDonald
Lynn McDonald
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine what factors influence the economic circumstances of widowed women who were in the labour force at some time in their lives. Using the Survey of Ageing and Independence, widows are compared to the married, separated/divorced and the ever single who retired. Widows above and below Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) are also compared. Models predicting who falls below the Low Income Cut-Off are estimated for all women and for the widows. The findings indicate that 49 per cent of the widows live below the Low Income Cut-Off. Factors associated with living below the poverty line include widowhood, a smaller household, lower levels of education and an occupation at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy. Sources of income that would enhance the likelihood of being above the poverty line, such as RRSPs, investments and a job-related pension, are not common amongst these women despite their previous attachment to the labour force.

Résumé

Cette recherche examine les facteurs qui influent sur les conditions économiques des veuves qui ont été sur le marché du travail au cours de leur vie. Dans le cadre de l'Enquête sur le vieillissement et l'autonomie, on compare les veuves aux femmes mariées, séparées/divorcées et même aux célibataires retraitées. On compare aussi les veuves qui sont au-dessus et au-dessous du seuil de faible revenu (SFR) selon Statistique Canada. On établit des modèles permettant de prévoir qui, des femmes et des veuves, se situera éventuellement sous le SFR. Les résultats indiquent que 49 pour cent des veuves vivent sous le SFR. Parmi les facteurs associés au fait de vivre sous le seuil de la pauvreté, on compte le veuvage, un plus petit ménage, un faible niveau d'éducation et une occupation au bas de la hiérarchie professionnelle. Les sources de revenus qui accroîtraient la possibilité d'être au-delà du seuil de la pauvreté, comme les R.E.É.R., les placements et une rente liée à un emploi, ne sont pas habituelles pour ces femmes, en dépit de leur appartenance antérieure au marché du travail.

Keywords

WidowRetiredPovertyLow Income Cut-OffVeuveretraitespauvretéseuil de faible revenu
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , Fall/Automne 1997 , pp. 553 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auerbach, A.J., & Kottlikoff, L. (1991). Life insurance inadequacy: Evidence from a sample of older widows (NBER Working Paper 3765). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Badets, J. (1990). Canada's immigrant population. In McKie, C. & Thompson, K. (Eds.), Canadian social trends (pp. 7–11). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.Google Scholar
Battle, K. (1996). A new old age pension. Paper presented at the Conference on Reform of the Retirement Income System, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, February.Google Scholar
Block, F. (1990). Postindustrial possibilities: A critique of economic discourse. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Bureau of National Affairs. (1974). Highlights of the new pension reform law. Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs.Google Scholar
Burkhauser, R.V., Butler, J.S., & Holden, K.C. (1991). How the death of a spouse affects economic well-being after retirement: A hazard model approach. Social Science Quarterly, 72, 504–519.Google Scholar
Canadian Institute of Actuaries. (1993). Canadian retirement income social security programs: Report on the task force on social security financing.Google Scholar
Caracelli, V.J., & Greene, J. (1993). Data analysis strategies for mixed-method evaluation designs. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 15, 195–207.Google Scholar
Caserta, M.S., Lund, D.A., & Dimond, M.F. (1989). Older widows' early bereavement adjustments. Journal of Women and Aging, 1, 1–21.Google Scholar
Cohen, G.L. (1996). Women entrepreneurs. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 8, 23–28.Google Scholar
Commonwealth Fund Commission on Elderly People Living Alone. (1987). Old, alone, and poor: Technical analyses. Report prepared by ICF, Inc., for the Commonwealth People Living Alone. Baltimore, MD.Google Scholar
Courchene, T. (1994). Social Canada in the millennium: Reform imperatives and restructuring principles. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute.Google Scholar
Davis, K, Grant, P., & Rowland, D. (1990). Alone and poor: The plight of elderly women. Generations, Summer, 43–47.Google Scholar
Dodge, H.H. (1995). Movements out of poverty among elderly widows. Journal of Gerontology, 50B, S240–S249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eichler, M. (1997). Family shifts: Families, policies, and gender equality. Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gardner, A. (1994). The self-employed. Focus on Canada. Catalogue no. 96–316-XPE. Ottawa: Statistics Canada and Prentice Hall Canada.Google Scholar
Gass, K.A (1987). The health of conjugally bereaved older widows: The role of appraisal coping and resources. Research in Nursing and Health, 10, 39–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gass, K.A. (1989). Appraisal, coping and resources: Markers associated with the health of aged widows and widowers. In Lund, D.A. (Ed.). Older bereaved spouses (pp. 79–93). New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Goetting, M.A., Raiser, M., Martin, P., Poon, L., & Johnson, M.A. (1995). Older women's financial resources and perception of financial adequacy. Journal of Women and Aging, 7(4), 67–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henretta, J.C., & O'Rand, A.M. (1983). Joint retirement in the dual worker family. Social Forces, 62, 504–520.Google Scholar
Holden, K.C., Burkhauser, R.V., & Feaster, D.J. (1988). The timing of falls into poverty after retirement and widowhood. Demography, 25, 405–414.Google Scholar
Hudson, C.M. (1984). The transition from wife to widow: Short-term changes in economic well-being and labour force behavior. Ph.D dissertation, Department of Sociology, Duke University. Durham, NC.Google Scholar
Jackson, S.J., Antonucci, T.C, & Gibson, R.C (1990). Culture, racial, and ethnic minority influences on aging. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (pp. 103–123). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Jones, D.R., & Goldblatt, P.O. (1987). Causes of death in widow(er)s and spouses. Journal of Biosocial Science, 19, 107–121.Google Scholar
Kingson, E.R., & O'Grady-LeShane, R. (1993). The effects of caregivingon women's social security benefits. The Gerontologist, 33(2), 230–239.Google Scholar
Lingg, B.A. (1990). Women beneficiaries aged 62 or older, 1960–1988. Social Security Bulletin, 53, 2–12.Google ScholarPubMed
Logue, B.J. (1991). Women at risk: Predictors of financial stress for retired women workers. The Gerontological Society of America, 31, 657–665.Google ScholarPubMed
Lopata, H.Z. (1973). Widowhood in an American City. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman.Google Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1978). Contributions of extended families to the support systems of metropolitan area widows: Limitations of the modified kin network. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40, 355–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1996). Current widowhood: Myths and realities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lund, D.A., Dimond, M.F., Caserta, M.S., Johnson, R.J., Poulton, J.L., & Connelly, J.R. (1985). Identifying elderly with coping difficulties after two years of bereavement. Omega, 16, 213–224.Google Scholar
Marshall, V.W., McMullin, J.A., Ballantyne, P.J., Daciuk, J.F., & Wigdor, B.T. (1995). Contributions to independence over the adult life course. Toronto: Centre for Studies of Aging, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1982). Canadian research on women as widows: A comparative analysis of the state of the art. Resources for Feminist Research, 11, 227–230.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1987a). Widowhood as an expectable life event. In Marshall, V.W. (Ed.), Aging in Canada: Social perspectives (2nd ed.), (pp. 342–366). Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1987b). Support systems of widows in Canada. In Lopata, H.Z. (Ed.), Widows. Vol. 2, North America (pp. 225–250). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Martin Matthews, A. (1991). Widowhood in later life. Toronto: Butterworths.Google Scholar
McDaniel, S.A. (1997). Intergenerational transfers, social solidarity and social policy: Unanswered questions and policy challenges. Canadian Journal on Aging/Canadian Public Policy, Joint issue: Supplement, 1–21.Google Scholar
McDonald, L. (1996). Transitions into retirement: A time for retirement. Toronto: Centre for Applied Social Research.Google Scholar
McDonald, L. (1997). The link between social research and social policy options: Reverse retirement as a case in point. Canadian Journal on Aging/Canadian Public Policy, Joint issue: Supplement, 90–113.Google Scholar
McDonald, L., & Wanner, R.A. (1991). Retirement in Canada. Toronto, ON: Butter worths Canada Ltd.Google Scholar
Meyer, M.H. (1990). Family status and poverty among older women: The gendered distribution of retirement income in the United States. Social Problems, 37, 551–563.Google Scholar
Moore, E., & Rosenberg, M.W. (1997). Growing old in Canada: Demographic and geographic perspectives. Toronto: International Thomson Publishing Co. with Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Morgan, L.A. (1980). Work in widowhood: A viable option? The Gerontologist, 20, 581–587.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan, L.A. (1981). Economic change at mid-life widowhood: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 43, 899–907.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, L.A. (1984). Continuity and change in labor force activity among recently widowed women. The Gerontologist, 24, 530–535.Google Scholar
Morgan, L.A. (1987). Gender and poverty among widowed: A comment on Smith and Zick. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 689–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Advisory Council on Aging. (1993). The NACA position of women's life course events. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada. Cat. No. H71–2/2–15–193.Google Scholar
National Advisory Council on Aging. (1996). The National Advisory Council on Aging brief on the five principles for federal pension reform.Google Scholar
National Council of Welfare. (1996). A guide to the proposed seniors benefit. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada.Google Scholar
Norris, J. (1994). Widowhood in later life. National Advisory Council on Aging.Google Scholar
Older Women's League. (1988). The road to poverty: A report on the economic status of midlife and older women in America. Mother's Day Report. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
O'Rand, A., & Landerman, R. (1984). Women's and men's retirement income status. Research on Aging, 6, 25–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (1996). Ageing in OECD countries: A critical policy challenge. France: OECD.Google Scholar
Payne, B.J. (1994). Separation and divorce in later adult life. National Advisory Council on Aging.Google Scholar
Pineo, P.C., Porter, J., & McRoberts, H.A. (1977). The 1971 census and the socioeconomic classification of occupations. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 14, 91–102.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, C.J. (1994). Editorial: Long-term care reform and “family” care: A worrisome combination. Canadian Journal on Aging, 13, 419–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruggeri, G.C., Howard, R., & Bluck, K. (1994). The incidence of low income among the elderly. Canadian Public Policy — Analyse de Politiques, XX(2), 138–151.Google Scholar
Schulz, J.H. (1997). Ask older women: Are the elderly better off? Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 9, 7–12.Google Scholar
Shuster, T.L., & Butler, E.W. (1989). Bereavement social networks, social support and mental health. In Lund, D.A. (Ed.), Older Bereaved Spouses (pp. 55–68). New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Siroonian, J. (1993). Investment income of Canadians. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 5, 53–59.Google Scholar
Smith, K.R., & Zick, C.D. (1986). The incidence of poverty among the recently widowed: Mediating factors in the life course. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 619–630.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (1991). Survey of ageing and independence — Microdata user's guide. Government of Canada.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (1994). Women in the labour force 1994 edition. Catalogue No. 75–507E.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada. (1997). A portrait of seniors in Canada (2nd ed.). Ottawa. Catalogue no. 89–519-XPE.Google Scholar
Stevens, N. (1995). Gender and adaptation to widowhood in later life. Ageing and Society, 15, 37–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szinovacz, M., Ekerdt, D.J., & Vinick, B.H. (Eds.). (1992). Families and Retirement. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Thompson, L.W., Breckenridge, J.N., Gallagher, D., & Peterson, J. (1984). Effects of bereavement on self-perceptions of physical health in elderly widows and widowers. Journal of Gerontology, 39, 309–314.Google Scholar
Tolbert, C., Horan, R.M., & Beck, E.M. (1980). The structure of economic segmentation: A dual economy approach. American Journal of Sociology, 85, 1095–1116.Google Scholar
Townson, M. (1996). Reforming the Canada pension plan: The implications for women. Paper prepared for Status of Women Canada.Google Scholar
Vachon, M.L.S., Sheldon, A.R., Lancee, W.J., Lyall, W.A.L., Rogers, J., & Freeman, S.J.J. (1982). Correlates of enduring distress patterns following bereavement: Social network, life situation and personality. Psychological Medicine, 12, 783–788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Voyer, M., & Vézina, J. (1995). Contribution of hassles, appraisal, and coping to psychological distress among elderly widows. Canadian Journal on Aging, 14, 498–510.Google Scholar
Waehrer, K., & Crystal, S. (1995). The impact of coresidence on economic well-being of elderly widows. Journal of Gerontology, 50B, S250–S258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wister, A.V., & Strain, L. (1986). Social support and well-being: A comparison of older widows and widowers. Canadian Journal on Aging, 5, 205–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfson, M.C., & Evans, J.M. (1989). Statistics Canada's low-income cut-offs: Methodological concerns and possibilities — a discussion paper. Ottawa: Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 72N0002.Google Scholar
Zick, C.D., & Smith, K.R. (1985). Immediate and delayed effects of widowhood on poverty: Patterns from the 1970's. The Gerontologist, 26, 669–675.Google Scholar