Senior Canadians, in the past, have been one of
the poorest groups in our society. Governments therefore created
programs to aid seniors financially in order that they may retain
their dignity. Local governments recognized concern for seniors
and provided aid to them through discounts for transit and other
services. Businesses also provided discounts for seniors in recognition
of their low income levels.
Although some seniors still have low levels of incomes,
they have made significant gains in the past thirty years. As
a group, they are surpassing the same levels of income earned
by those under thirty (1). How is it then that we still see the
same levels of income assistance for seniors. Local governments
and businesses still providing discounts for seniors regardless
of the income gains over the last thirty years.
Seniors as a whole are not as poor as they were
in the past and if current trends hold, they will continue to
enjoy lower levels of poverty in the near future. Statistics Canada
states that, the incidence of low income fell faster for seniors
than for Canadians overall. Senior households headed by men dropped
from 11% to 7% and senior households headed by women fell from
18% to 14%. For all families incidence of low income fell from
14% to 11%. (2) It must be noted that a large portion of single
women without a family home, do live in poverty.
Overall, the true levels of poverty for seniors
are actually inflated. "Disposable income" is a better indicator
of whether seniors are in poverty. Although senior's levels of
income may be lower, many seniors have completed paying off their
mortgages and have finished purchasing large capital items, such
as washing machines. Many seniors, lacking in mobility, do not
incur the high costs of owning an automobile. These differences
in lifestyles lessen expenditures and increase disposable income.
It is common that seniors, in attempts to access
greater government assistance, hide their true income by transferring
their funds to children. By doing this, they can lower their recorded
income and take greater advantage of a variety of government programs.
Children then clandestinely provide them with additional unreported
income. The total number of seniors doing this is uncertain.
Most importantly, measurements of low income does
not take into account that many seniors are asset rich. Many seniors
may have low incomes but own homes worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars. These seniors could take advantage of this wealth
through reverse mortgages. Many of our poorest seniors choose
not to use this wealth to provide income, since increasing their
income would mean a decrease in government funding. As of yet,
no one has done a study recording the true income levels of seniors
based upon the income potential of seniors, however, given the
high rate of home ownership by this cohort one can speculate with
a fair degree of confidence that the level of poverty among seniors
is highly inflated by current measurements.
A better measurement for seniors would be "potential
income" level, which would calculate the disposal of assets
over the remaining life of seniors. This would give a more accurate
estimate of the true poverty of seniors.
1. Pierre Gauthier,"Canada's Seniors," Canadian
Social Trends No. 22 (Autumn 1991), 16-20
2. Ibid.
