Amidst a rising cost of living and persistent interest rates,
Canadians’ retirement outlook is particularly bleak, according to
the results of the 2024 Canadian Retirement Survey from the
Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and Abacus Data. It’s an
especially challenging environment for women, as they struggle to
balance the cost of daily life with saving for retirement.
While the survey of 2,000 Canadians found one in five (22%) have
no savings at all, Canadian women report having less in savings and
a reduced capacity to save compared to men. Half (49%) of women
have less than $5,000 in savings, compared to a third (33%) of
men.
“We know women make less money than men and they are more likely
to work part-time or take time off work to have children or look
after their families,” said Ivana Zanardo, Head of Plan Services at
HOOPP. “Factor in rising expenses and prolonged high interest rates
and it’s no surprise that their retirement security is paying the
price.”
It’s against this economic backdrop that a majority (57%) of
unretired Canadians don’t feel prepared for retirement, including
64% of women and 49% of men. As women report having lower savings
than men, they’re also less likely to have enough money coming in
to save (36% of women compared to 48% of men), and much more likely
to be concerned about the cost of daily life (76% vs. 65%) and
their income keeping up with inflation (69% vs. 57%).
Affording the day-to-day is the top financial priority for women
(57%, compared to 49% of men), while men focus more on saving for
retirement (51%, vs. 46% of women). Even so, all Canadians continue
to feel concerned about affording daily life (70%) amidst a
challenging economy.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen Canadians struggle to keep
up, first with inflation and now with interest rates and the cost
of living,” said David Coletto, CEO, Abacus Data. “But a small cut
in interest rates won’t provide enough relief for Canadians, who
told us they expect rates to continue to impact their ability to
save even if they decrease slightly in the short-term.”
As they manage these mounting financial pressures, many
Canadians find themselves facing a different future than they may
have anticipated, with some removing retirement from their plans
entirely. One in ten (13%) unretired Canadians don’t think they’ll
ever retire and one in four (26%) plan to continue to work in
retirement in order to support themselves.
Finances negatively impacting Canadians’ mental health,
especially women
The strain on Canadians’ finances is also affecting their
overall wellbeing, with women much more likely to be affected.
Significantly more women feel anxious (51% of women compared to 39%
of men), fearful (50% vs. 37%), frustrated (50% vs. 42%) and sad
(46% vs. 36%) about their financial situation.
At the same time, women are more likely than men to be concerned
about:
- housing affordability (66% of women, compared to 51% of
men)
- having enough money in retirement (63% vs. 52%)
- their mental health (49% vs.
35%)
These pressures have left many women in an untenable position as
they get closer to retirement age, as more than one in three (36%)
aged 55-64 have no savings at all, compared to one in five (22%)
men in the same age group. In fact, women in this age group are by
far the most likely to have nothing saved, followed by 30% of women
aged 35-54 (compared to 20% of men in the same age group).
Almost half (49%) of unretired adults have saved nothing for
retirement in the last year, as all Canadians continue to worry
about having enough money in retirement (58%). Even as they
navigate a challenging economic environment, the vast majority
(70%) of Canadians continue to agree they would trade some of their
salary for a pension (or a better pension).
The findings provide a compelling explanation for why this is:
almost half (49%) of unretired women with a pension feel prepared
for retirement, compared to just 29% of those without a pension.
For unretired men, this increases to 66% of those with a pension
and 40% without.
Canadians also recognize the important role good workplace
pensions play in Canada’s economy. Seventy-seven per cent agree
that without good pensions in place, the economy will suffer, while
three-quarters (75%) believe that if workers aren’t able to access
good workplace pensions and contribute during their working lives,
they will become a burden on taxpayers.
“By improving access to good workplace pensions we can help
prevent these challenges from further eroding Canadian women’s
retirement security,” said Zanardo. “At the end of the day, women
and all Canadians deserve to feel confident in their financial
future.”
These findings are based on a survey conducted online with 2,000
Canadians aged 18 and over from April 12 to 16, 2024. A random
sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set
of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These
partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to
manage out potential skews in the data from a single source. The
margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of
the same size is +/- 2.19%, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error
will be larger for data that is based on sub-groups of the total
sample. The data were weighted according to census data to ensure
that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age,
gender, educational attainment and region. Individuals who
identified their gender as something other than "male" or "female"
were weighted out of the gendered analysis due to their small
sample size (N=9). Totals may not add up to 100 due to
rounding.
About the Healthcare of Ontario Pension
Plan
HOOPP serves Ontario’s hospital and community-based healthcare
sector, with more than 670 participating employers. Its membership
includes nurses, medical technicians, food services staff,
housekeeping staff, and many others who provide valued healthcare
services. In total, HOOPP has more than 460,000 active, deferred
and retired members.
HOOPP operates as a private independent trust, and is governed
by a Board of Trustees with a sole fiduciary duty to deliver the
pension promise. The Board is jointly governed by the Ontario
Hospital Association (OHA) and four unions: the Ontario Nurses’
Association (ONA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE),
the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union (OPSEU), and the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This governance model
provides representation from both management and workers in support
of the long-term interests of the Plan.
Contact:
Jackie Emick, Media Relations Advisor
jemick@hoopp.com