Legislated changes to federal pension income in Canada will adversely affect low income seniors' health.
OBJECTIVE
This study uses a population health intervention modeling approach to project the impact of recent legislated increases in age eligibility for Canadian federally-funded pension benefits on low income seniors' health, using food insecurity as a health indicator.


METHODS
Food insecurity prevalence and income source were assessed for unattached low income (<$20,000 CAD) persons aged 60-64 years (population weighted n=151,350) versus seniors aged 65-69 years (population weighted n=151,485) using public use data from the Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 4.1 (2007-2008).


RESULTS
Seniors' benefits through federal public pension plans constituted the main source of income for the majority (79.4%) of low income seniors aged 65-69 years, in contrast to low income seniors aged 60-64 years who reported their main income from employment, employment insurance, Workers' Compensation, or welfare. The increase in income provided by federal pension benefits for low income Canadians 65 and over coincided with a pronounced (50%) decrease in food insecurity prevalence (11.6% for seniors ≥65 years versus 22.8% for seniors <65 years).


CONCLUSIONS
Raising the age of eligibility for public pension seniors' benefits in Canada from 65 to 67 years will negatively impact low income seniors' health, relegating those who are food insecure to continued hardship.
Department of Economics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: hemery@ucalgary.ca.
J C Herbert
JC
Emery
Valerie C
VC
Fleisch
Lynn
L
McIntyre
D000368:Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D035082:Federal Government; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007878:Legislation as Topic / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010415:Pensions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Canada; Food insecurity; Health; Income; Pensions; Population; Seniors