Selection criteria for involuntary retirements

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

Using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) question on the reason for stopping work, employment exits associated with economic conditions, illness, disability or even personal and family responsibilities can be selected. However, it is not possible to know whether those employment exits actually lead to retirement, therefore criteria for making that determination must be established. The series on involuntary retirements begins in 1997, when the response categories were changed.

Various selection criteria were tested—for example, by varying the age criteria and the length of jobless spell—with no significant effect on the results. Since few people retire voluntarily before age 55, the number of involuntary retirements before 55 was set at 0. The same criteria were applied for both sexes. Over the entire observation period, workers who met the following criteria were considered retired:

• Age 55 to 59 – not in the labour force, jobless for at least 3 months, not looking for work, unavailable for work, not expecting to be called back and not wanting to work
• Age 60 and over – not in the labour force, no minimum jobless spell, not looking for work, unavailable for work, not expecting to be called back and not wanting to work.

According to these criteria (Table A.1) and for the entire period, 15% of employment exits for economic reasons led to retirement for men, and 21% for women. The higher the age at which employment exits occur, the greater the number of retirements.

Just under one-half of employment exits for health reasons were considered retirements. The proportion increases with age and is similar for both sexes.

About 4 in 10 employment exits due to personal or family responsibilities were considered retirements. Similarly, the more employment exits affect older workers, the more likely they are to be considered retirements.

Table A.1
Proportion of all workers selected as retired, by reason for employment exit,^Note 1 1998 to 2009
Table summary
This table displays the results of proportion of all workers selected as retired age group, 50 and over, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69 and 70 and over, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Age group
	50 and over	50 to 54Note 2	55 to 59	60 to 64	65 to 69	70 and over
	percentage
Economic conditions
Both sexes	17	0	15	33	61	79
Men	15	0	10	27	54	73
Women	21	0	21	41	72	87
Health reasons
Both sexes	47	0	53	83	95	99
Men	50	0	50	82	94	98
Women	44	0	56	85	96	100
Personal and family responsibilities
Both sexes	37	0	44	77	94	94
Men	40	0	37	72	98	95
Women	36	0	46	79	91	92
1. Includes economic conditions, health reasons, and personal and family responsibilities. 2. Since few people retire voluntarily before age 55, the number of involuntary retirements was set at 0. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 1997 to 2010.