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Poverty Variations among the Elderly: The Roles of Income Security Policies and Family Co-Residence*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

Lisa Kaida  and
Monica Boyd
Lisa Kaida*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
Monica Boyd
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
*
†Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Lisa Kaida, M.A., Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2J4 (lisa.kaida@utoronto.ca)
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Abstract

Despite a rapid overall decline in poverty among older people since the 1970s, poverty among elderly immigrants is persistently high in Canada. Using data from the 2006 Canadian Census of Population, this article presents results of a study on the poverty of elderly immigrants in comparison to the Canadian-born elderly population. Results from logistic regression analysis suggest that a large portion of the higher poverty rates among elderly immigrants can be explained by the lack or inadequacy of state income support. Nevertheless, the high poverty levels among elderly immigrants are mitigated by financial assistance from their kin. This article concludes by highlighting the role of family support as a coping strategy for escaping poverty and by assessing two mechanisms of state intervention that could improve the economic well-being of elderly immigrants.

Résumé

Malgré un déclin rapide depuis les années 1970, la pauvreté parmi les immigrants âgées demeure toujours élevée. Utilisant le recensement canadien de la population en 2006, cet article décrit les différences des taux de pauvreté des vieillards immigrants comparé aux ceux nés au Canada. Les résultats de l’analyse logistique de régression suggèrent qu’une grande partie du haut taux de pauvreté parmi les immigrants âgés est dû au manque, ou à l’insuffisance, d’appui financier du gouvernement. Néanmoins, la pauvreté élevée parmi les immigrants âgés est atténuée par l’aide financière de leurs familles. Cet article conclut en mettant l’emphase sur le rôle que la famille peut jouer pour contrer la pauvreté qui fait face aux vieillards immigrants, et en évaluant deux mécanismes d’intervention du gouvernement qui pourraient améliorer le bien-être économique des immigrants âgés.

Keywords

vieillissementpauvretéimmigrantspolitique publiqueaide aux famillessoutien familialethnicitagingpovertyimmigrantsgovernment policyfamily supportethnicity
Type
Regular Articles / Articles réguliers
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 83 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2011

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Footnotes

*

We thank three anonymous reviewers for their careful reviews of an earlier manuscript and for their many helpful comments. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the June 2008 annual meeting of the Canadian Sociological Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, and the December 2008 fourth Symposium of the Population, Work, and Family Research Collaboration (PWFC), Gatineau, Quebec. This research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council award of a Canada Research Chair in Immigration, Inequality, and Public Policy to Monica Boyd.

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