Budget necessitates policy changes for older Canadian workforce
Changes to Canada’s Old Age Security Pensions (OAS) announced in the 2012 Federal Budget, combined with the country’s aging population and recent economic uncertainty, make the need for key policies on ageism in the workforce a national priority, says Nipissing University Sociology professor Dr. Ellie Berger, who has just published a new policy brief.
The Budget outlined changes to OAS, including raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67, and allowing Canadians to delay claiming their OAS until later in life to reap higher benefits. The moves — meant to keep Canadians in the workforce longer to boost the economy and provide taxes to government, while limiting the costs of the OAS system — have implications for Canada’s workforce and how older workers are treated and supported.
“While the government feels that these changes are necessary to offset the financial needs of the baby boom generation approaching retirement age, it is not this straightforward,” said Berger. “The budget changes will be hardest for low-income Canadians and those in poor health who anticipated retiring and receiving benefits at age 65. Another concern relates to imposing a new age norm for retirement at 67, when many are already retiring at this age anyway. Stereotypes exist about older workers' abilities and employers worry about the costs of hiring and retaining them. Forcing older workers to remain in the labour force longer may only serve to heighten the discrimination that they already face.”
Berger’s brief, published by the Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster, and co-written with Nipissing Sociology student Douglas Hodgins, provides a summary of the current research and policies in the field of age discrimination and paid work.
The brief finds that while policy changes have been noted on some fronts, there are still many areas that require considerable improvement. Key findings include:Policies have been created to eliminate mandatory retirement across Canada, yet some exceptions still cause older employees to be forced out of the workplace.Changes in retirement policy will directly influence employer and government pensions.Ageism is reflected in employers’ attitudes and this directly impacts older worker retention, training, and recruitment.Age discrimination legislation still has a long way to go to be effective in the fight against ageism.Particular attention needs to be paid to older female employees and their battle with gendered ageism.Ageism is particularly evident when unemployed and searching for work.Policy improvements are needed to remove mandatory retirement in all areas, to educate employers to change ageist attitudes and hold them more accountable for their actions, and to improve programs to help older workers in their job search process.
“While there have been some advances in this area, policy improvements are needed regarding employers' ageist attitudes and practices, particularly with respect to the training, retention and hiring of older workers,” says Berger. “Part of these policy improvements could involve the creation of educational programs for employers to help foster more positive attitudes toward older employees and more government funded programs to help older unemployed workers find employment.”
The brief is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The complete Policy brief is available here:http://sociology.uwo.ca/cluster/en/PolicyBrief7.html