Older individuals’ labour force participation during COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 significantly changed the labour participation rates of older Canadians, leading to substantial flows among employment, unemployment, marginal attachment, and non-attachment. Using the Canadian Labour Force Survey, this paper examines the impact of these flows on the participation rates of older individuals and explores whether COVID-19 prompted early retirements. Unlike the Great Recession, the pandemic caused significant direct separations from employment to non-participation. Additionally, older women experienced slower participation rate recovery than men due to higher outflows and lower inflows. Notably, many individuals who initially became non-attached to the labour force in early 2020 transitioned back to employment in the following months of the same year. Generally, the pandemic did not increase older individuals’ self-reported retirement transitions and reduced their probability of staying non-attached to the labour market.