Age at retirement, by class of worker

Public sector employees retire earlier

• Although the median retirement age has decreased significantly over the past two decades, long-term trends vary among employment subgroups.
• Since 1976, public sector employees have consistently retired at a younger median age than those in the private sector or the self-employed. The difference in retirement age between employees in the private and public sectors began to diverge increasingly in 1984 when public sector workers began retiring earlier. The median age at retirement among public sector employees (i.e., education, health care and social assistance, as well as government), declined from 64.8 years in 1976 to 57.2 years in 1999; however, it was back up to 59.6 years in 2003.
• The median retirement age of employees in the private sector remained fairly stable from 1976 to 1988 but began a long-term decline the following year. By 1999, it had dropped to 61.3 years (versus 65 years in the late 1970s) and then began rising again, to reach 62.3 years in 2003. Among the self-employed, the median retirement age has remained steady since the mid 1970s, fluctuating between 64.3 and 65.8 years.

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