A survey finds that the two largest generational groups in Canada—baby boomers and millennials—are worried about their economic future, including their lack of pension coverage.
Key findings from a Broadbent Institute survey shows that millennials think they face a future of precarious work and expect the income gap to grow over their working life, while boomers fear their children’s generation won’t be able to raise the tax revenue needed to pay for the social programs they’ll need in retirement.
Fifty-two percent of millennials think their generation will work on contract—either mixed with permanent jobs or contracts alone. In contrast, only 14% of their parents’ generation had a work life similar to the one their children expect for themselves. About half as many millennials expect their work life will be permanent job to permanent job (39%) than their parents (66%).
Overall, 41% of millennials are worried that their generation will be able to pay enough tax to support their parents’ social programs, while 56% of baby boomers with millennial children are at least a bit worried about their childrens’ ability to support their social programs through taxes.
The low-benefit, high-instability work life that millennials expect is also seen in the number of people they know whose retirement is secured through workplace pensions. Fully 92% of boomers know someone with a workplace pension, with 51% of them knowing some or many. This compares with only 30% of millennials who know at least some people who have a workplace pension—and one in five knowing no one at all.
Millennials with a university degree are somewhat more likely to say they know anyone with a pension provided by their employer (35% some or many) compared with those with lower educational attainment.
The same relationship exists among baby boomers. Those with a university degree are more likely to say they have many or some friends who have an employer-provided pension (60%) than those who have obtained a high school diploma or less (41%).
There were 983 millennials 1,064 baby boomers with at least one child age 20 or older who participated in the survey.
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