Income Replacement Rates Among Canadian Seniors: The Effect of Widowhood and Divorce

The financial security of widowed and divorced women during their retirement years has long been a concern. This paper places this issue within the context of research on replacement rates, the extent to which family income during the working years (here, the mid-50s) is "replaced" as individuals move into their late 70s. Using a longitudinal database and fixed-effects econometric models, the paper assesses the effect of widowhood/widowerhood and divorce after age 55 on replacement rates during the retirement years.