Older Canadians’ ‘optimism about aging’ slips: survey
The number of Canadians with positive views of aging is declining, a new survey has found.
Only 57 per cent of Canadians over the age of 50 have positive feelings about aging, the National Institute on Ageing’s new annual survey shows. That is down from 62 per cent last year.
“When we’re seeing that optimism about aging slipping, I think it’s a good indicator of some areas that we need to pay better attention to to support this huge proportion of our population,” said Talia Bronstein, director of policy at the institute.
The five per cent drop was the “steepest drop” the institute has seen since it began conducting the survey in 2022. In all other years, the number of people with positive attitudes about aging had remained stable, Bronstein said.
The survey also showed that several concerning trends remain largely unchanged. Nearly a quarter — 22 per cent — have only $5,000 or less saved for retirement, down three per cent from last year’s survey. And social isolation remains high.
