No. 8 - Still on the job

While the majority of seniors are retired, a small proportion still participate in the paid workforce. In 2000, 6% of all people aged 65 and over were employed, down from 9% in 1976.

Senior men are considerably more likely than senior women to still be working outside the home. In 2000, 9% of senior men were part of the paid workforce, compared with 3% of senior women.

More than half of these seniors (60% in 2000) were self-employed and many seniors were employed on a part-time basis (43% in 2000). And, while seniors make up less than 2% of the overall workforce in Canada, they made up 10% of those employed in agriculture and 14% of those employed in religious professions in 2000.

Percentage of seniors employed, 1976-2000

Source: Statistics Canada