Working More and Making Less: Post-Retirement Aged Immigrant Women Care Workers in Canada

Care work is typically undervalued and precarious. However, little is currently known about the financial outcomes of immigrant women care workers as they reach post-retirement age, or their access to effective social policy supports. Using Canada as a case example, this study analyzes the Longitudinal Immigration Database to compare the income trajectories of women aged 65-95 who entered the country via the Care Worker immigration entry class to immigrant women from two other immigration streams (one focused on higher skill economic contributions, the other on family reunification). Estimating a series of growth curve models (n = 28,775), results reveal that between 2007-2017, despite engaging in paid employment longer, Care Worker women were less able to make contributions to a private pension plan prior to retirement and more likely to depend on public pension benefits after reaching retirement age, relative to other immigrant women. Additionally, Care Worker women had lower predicted total income and experienced downward mobility during the post-retirement period. Together, the findings reinforce the importance of considering the financial circumstances of immigrant care workers as they age and highlight a need for renewed government investment in social supports to reduce inequalities tied to the gendered and racialized devaluation of low-wage caring occupations.