How do you spend your time?

A growing body of research is examining how older Canadians spend their time.  Over the next few posts, I will take a look at the research put out by Stats Canada on this issue. The findings are important because in Canada people are retiring later and living longer. For example, the 2016 Census showed that more people are working past the age of 65: nearly 1 in 5 Canadians aged 65 and over reported working at some point during the previous year, which was almost double the proportion in 1995.

Understanding how my generation spend our time is essential as many of us continue to contribute to society in other ways (such as volunteering and caregiving)—our contributions do not end when we are no longer formally employed. Research has found that those of us who volunteer give more hours than those in any other age group. Our generation is more likely to engage in charitable giving and, although we are the least common group of caregivers, we are the most likely to spend the greatest number of hours providing care.

Once my age group retires, what are we doing with our free time? We could be using our time to volunteer, exercise or travel or we could be spending our post-retirement years in a more inactive way. Existing research has shown that, as we age, there is a definite shift in time allocation from paid work to leisure activities. It is also important to note that, according to this research, part of that increase can be attributed to more passive leisure activities and not necessarily active pursuits. In addition, existing health research has found that many of us spend the most time on sedentary activities.

Existing research shows the importance of being socially engaged throughout the ageing process. Ageing is a transitional period when people experience changes not only in physical health but also in social roles that can influence how seniors organize their time and social activities. Social engagement in meaningful activities and maintaining close relationships is important for many older adults. Maintaining connections to family and friends, however, may be more difficult for my generation, because our social networks become smaller with age.