Our population has been currently increasing with the amount of older people. According to statistics Canada “seniors who made up 13.7 percent of the population in 2006, will make up 23 to 25 percent of the population by 2031 (Ward and Belanger, 2006, pg. 197)”. Arguably it’s because the baby boomers (1946-1964) are the ones starting to retire. When I think of older people I think of those who are well off financially, those retired enjoying life, and having stress free problems. This is not always the case though. We live in which is much of a patriarchy society that men are dominant over women. So when I rethink the idea of just older women my view of older people is quite different.
An issue regarding older women that I would like to write about is the fact that women are paid lower. This is in effect to their wage earning profit in the workforce and continues into when they retire and receive their pensions. A lot of the time women are the main caregivers in a family. I’d have to say this starts most women off with that disadvantage because women aren’t able to care for the family and have a good paying job at the same time. Arguably women work for less pay and usually in service jobs that don’t have a retirement plan.
Women often start and stop job’s that’s the role they play in order to have a family. This in the long run is a result why “on average, when they retire, women collect less- as much as 41% less- from Canadian pension plan than men.” (CUPE, p.2) This is true I know for my grandparents my grandpa gets much more than what my grandma receives. It does go back to what I talk about that my grandma didn’t have as many years in the workforce to contribute money into a pension plan. There are also different retirement plans and “ Statistics show that 34% of the income of younger retired women (aged 65-69) comes from the combined old age security/ Guaranteed income supplement.” (CUPE, p.2)
Women out live men. Having one pension is tough to live with especially since women often have a lower income. I found this newsletter interesting. It just gives a brief overlook at different areas on women and pensions.
Not everything is fair. When we compare people more or less males and females, it’s the women that are often the ones who get the low end of the stick. Both young and old women have a disadvantage in society. The way I look at it is the younger women who start off with a disadvantage are usually the older women who continue with the problem into retirement. It would be hard to get our whole retired society to live a life they enjoy that is stress free. Now the baby boomers are the ones getting older and are starting to receive these retirement plans and with so many of them the income won’t increase if anything it will decrease in order to help everyone out.
-Samantha
References:
Canadian Union of Public Employee-Equality Branch (CUPE), Pensions-Women deferred wage. http://scfp.ca/updir/PensionsFr.pdf
Lillian Zimmerman. (1996). Canada Pension Plan Reforms: Issues for women. http://www.socialpolicy.ca/52100/m11/issues-women.htm
Ward, M., Belanger, M. (2006). The Family Dynamic: A Canadian Perspective. Toronto, Ontario: Nelson Education Ltd.
Newsletter: March 2010 http://www.canpension.ca/pages/archives/march10/women.html
Good Post Sam! Women are at a disadvantage in many aspects in society, the work force and retirement is a significant one. With women being in lower paying job and most having to take time off to care for children or family members, this makes a big impact on pension rates when they are older. I think that the government should look at the statistics and make a change in either female dominant career wages or employment insurance rates for women when taking time off work for family situations.
ReplyDeleteJenn S
I agree with you; having just written a post about older adults and Guaranteed Income Supplements for lower-income older adults, while reading through the literature it was surprising to notice how older women are more prevelent in the low-income category because of their previous lack of employment outside the home. Women's contributions to the family should be recognized by the government and they should be recieving more during their retirement for these contributions.
ReplyDeleteKirsten
Good post,
ReplyDeleteI couldnt agree with you more on the issue of women getting paid lower. Iam taking sociology this term as well, and we discussed this very issue re: women's pay in society. Our proff explained that women will always get paid less than men in society, based on them just being female. Even if they hold the same ranking in society or hold the same job (i.e a manager) a woman will always get paid less than a man. Interesting, yet completly unfair - women always seem to be the underdog in society. Thanks for sharing.
Dara
Working towards women and men having the same opportunities, which include pay in salary needs to change. The women who work so hard, to only take a hit on their pension plan when they are older. Thank you for sharing Samantha, it was a really well though out blog post.
ReplyDelete-Chandra B
As a woman myself, it really sucks to know that women are generally more economically disadvantaged than men. In my opinion, I feel that most women do more work than men, even though men do more work outside the home. Most women choose to only work part-time jobs in order to come home and do more work by caring for children, and doing household chores. The amount of unpaid work women do for their families should definitely be taken into consideration.
ReplyDelete- Adrienne A.
Its hard to believe that it almost seems like society isn't going any where when it comes to the issue of women's equality. Women work just as hard a men do, and we have nothing to show for it.
ReplyDeleteI worked at a job for 3 years without a raise that people (mostly men) got. These people started at least 6 months after me. Its unbelieveable what men in authority positions will do to stay there.
~Joelle