Maxine knows best...

Before I present to you a fascinating and detailed explanation on how and why poverty affects older adults, I would first like you to think of all the things that you could possibly do, besides shooting a politician since Maxine already claimed it, to end up in prison. Now I would like you to think of what a senior citizen that is not in jail could have possibly done that would be considered worse than what you previously came up with. I think most of you will come to the same conclusion as Maxine, government funding needs some editing!

            On a serious note, it would be helpful to know that the number of older adults in Canada is increasing, and that is because life expectancy is increasing. Ward (2006) mentions that “[t]he fastest growing age group is the old-old, which gained 41 percent from 1991 and is expected to grow by another 43 percent by 2011” (p.199). The old-old is referring to those 85 years and older. With this fact in play, the amount that one needs to save in order to retire has increased dramatically. A study done by the University of Waterloo found that 2/3rds of Canadians are not saving enough for retirement (MacDonald, 2010, p.40). This shift in age expectancy and the increasing cost of living seems to have blind-sided people when preparing and saving for their retirement, and programs such as the Canadian Pension Plan and Old Age Security are having difficulties making up the difference. This is causing more seniors to fall below the poverty line.

Although cost of living and age expectancy affects all seniors, there are groups of seniors who experience more poverty for other reasons as well. The first group is people who have immigrated to Canada. Many immigrant seniors are living in poverty because they do not qualify for pensions or only qualify for partial pensions. This is because “[t]o be eligible for Old Age Security, citizens or legal residents of Canada had to have lived in Canada a minimum of ten years after reaching age 18”(Baker, 2009, p.150). This means if you have recently immigrated to Canada in your older age, unless you have savings of your own, which is usually not the case, you are forced to stay in the work force until you reach the requirement to be eligible for a pension. Failure or inability to comply with this policy makes older adults vulnerable to poverty.

The second double-marginalized group is women. Ward (2006) mentions pensions continue the inequity in pay, causing women to be poor into their older age. Pensions are lower for three reasons: Because wages are lower when in the workforce, they take time off for childcare, and many more women than men work part-time (p.201). This reflects the idea that women’s unpaid duties are still going unnoticed or undervalued, and it continues to be a burden even into retirement, making them more susceptible to poverty.

Despite current government interventions, the problem of older adults in poverty is increasing in numbers. If an older adult does not have savings and the government continues to give less than required to make ends meet, the older adult has to turn to family or friends for financial support. In the case where the older adult does not have any significant others, the alternative is poverty. This is sadly the case for some. A study by Warnes (2010) found that  “in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, there were 212 homeless people aged 55 years or over in 2008 compared with 51 in 2002, and in Edmonton, Alberta, the equivalent numbers increased from 81 in 2000 to 306 in 2008” (p.355). Although the numbers are relatively small when looking at the total population, this is still alarming. This shows that the problem of poverty is growing in Canada, even though all paradigms, including the neoconservatives, would agree that older adults are the deserving poor (Mullaly, 2007, p.83).

Although government interventions have been put into place in the past to avoid the problem of older adults in poverty, the problem continues to exist and increase. Policies must be adapted to take into account that more immigrants are coming and retiring in Canada, as well as the fact that life expectancy continues to grow. Policy also has to adapt to take into account that a lot of women’s work is unpaid and should be reflected equally in pensions. We need to make sure we are taking care of our older population because after a lifetime in the workforce, they should be allowed to enjoy their golden years without financial worries. Or, as Maxine suggests, we could always just scratch the policy changes and give them a loaded gun. At least that would give them a roof over their head and three meals a day. We’ll let the government decide what they think is best for society!

Leah

References

Baker, M. (2009). Families: Changing Trends in Canada (6th ed.). Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

MacDonald, B., Andrews, D., & Brown, R. (2010). The Canadian Elder Standard- Pricing the Cost of Basic Needs for the Canadian Elderly. Reviews in clinical gerontology, 29(1), p. 39-56.

Mullaly, R. (2007). The new structural social work (3^rd Ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Ward, M. (2006). The Family Dynamic (4^th Ed.). Toronto, ON: Nelson.

Warnes, A. (2010). Homelessness among older people and service responses. Reviews in clinical gerontology, 20(4), p.354-363.