The Retirement Plans and Expectations of Non-retired Canadians Aged 45 to 59
This study examines retirement issues for older working Canadians: income, pension coverage, home ownership status, immigration status, marital status and self-assessed health. It uses data from the 2002 General Social Survey.
Caregivers' Retirement Congruency: A Case for Caregiver Support
Using the concept of retirement congruency (RC), which takes into account greater variation in retirement decisions (low, moderate, or high RC) than a dichotomous conceptualization (forced versus chosen), multinomial logistic regression was conducted on a sample of caregivers from the 2002 Canadian General Social Survey who were retired from employment (n = 700). Different variables increased the risk of having low and moderate RC, when both were compared to high RC. Factors predicting low RC (versus moderate RC), were similar but not identical to those predicting low RC (versus high RC). Retiring for health reasons and job problems were significant in all three comparisons. Retiring to give care only increased the probability of having moderate RC, compared to high RC, indicating that many employed caregivers who voluntarily retired because of caregiving responsibilities still expressed a desire to have remained in the labor force. Results raise questions about which policy domain—income security or labor—is most appropriate within this context.
Patterns of Social Differentiation in Canada: Understanding their Dynamics and Bridging the Gaps
This article argues that social differentiation represents an effective conceptual tool for grasping the connections between diversity and polarization and between difference and inequality. It focuses on the economically based and normatively informed processes constitutive social differentiation in Canada. It documents age and spatially related, gendered, and racialized inequalities and examines the mechanisms underlying these patterns. It explores the relationship between public policy, social differentiation, and the production and reduction of social inequality. Finally, it suggests that the mitigation of socio-economic disparities constitutes the best tool for disassociating diversity and polarization.