Seniors’ participation in selected activities varies by age

Interesting that the participation rate for unpaid household activities does not vary across age groups. Specifically, 85% of future seniors (aged 55 to 64) engaged in unpaid household work over the course of a given day, compared with 88% for those aged 65 to 74 and 87% for those aged 75 and over.

It is possible that although seniors have more time for household work, the demand for this type of work declines due to smaller household sizes. Furthermore, it is also possible that older adults may also experience disabilities or be in poorer health, which may make certain activities, including household work, more challenging.

For other activities, the participation rates for civic, religious and organizational activities vary slightly across the different age groups. The participation rate in such activities was 10% for seniors aged 75 and over compared with 8% for those aged 65 to 74. Although there are some differences in the participation rates, the data also show that the time spent on these activities remains fairly consistent across all age groups.

There are, however, differences in the participation rates for leisure and physical activities by age. However, the amount of time spent on these activities did not vary by age. Seniors in all three age groups who engaged in these activities spent just over two hours doing so. In addition, and consistent with existing research, seniors aged 75 and over were significantly less likely to use technology than those aged 65 to 74 (22% versus 33%). However, among those who used technology, the time they spent did not vary significantly across the different age groups.

The data also show that the participation rates and time spent on more passive activities significantly varies across age groups. Not only do the participation rates for watching television and reading increase with age, but the data also show an increase by age in time spent on these activities. For example, the average time spent watching television increased by one hour for persons between the ages of 55 and 64 as well as for those 75 and over. A similar relationship can be found between reading and ageing. This suggests that as seniors age and move away from paid work, some of that time is being replaced by more passive activities.

Finally, the amount of time seniors spends sleeping also increases with age. This is consistent with existing research that shows time spent sleeping increases with age for both men and women, although short sleep duration and poor sleep quality have also been found to be common among seniors. The research shows that persons aged 55 to 64 spend an average of 8.5 hours sleeping. Seniors aged 65 to 74 spend 8.9 hours sleeping, compared with 9.3 hours for those aged 75 and over.

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.

Counting Up Not Down

I have to give credit for the idea of the retirement counter to Crabapple Landing which is the name of a blog that I read. In the blog, the blogger talks about the idea of counting down and says she had set up a timer to count down the time to her retirement. I suspect many have done that and as we moved closer to the end time probably slows down.

After she retired, she came up with the idea to keep track of how long her retirement lasts and I thought what a great and positive idea. Boomers are reinventing retirement, stages 1 through 3, so I decided to add my own counter. 

So, on the first counter, I have the number of days since I officially retired, and the second counter lists the days since I actually retired.  For those who read my blog, you know that I went back to work almost the next day and stayed working part time and full time for just over 7 years before I actually stopped working for pay. I, of course, still work at what I enjoy but I no longer being paid for my time. 

My career in Education lasted 40 years and I hope to spend at least that many years being retired, but I know I won't. My retirement age was 63 so if I make it to the age of 85 I will have been retired for 22 years, not the 40 that I worked. To be retired for 40 years I would have to live until I was 103 and that is not going to happen.

I don't know if I have good genes as my Dad died when he was in his early 50's and my mom died in her early 60's. However, I have cousins and aunts who lived until they were in their late 80's, so I  am hopeful that I will make it for at least a few more years.

I do love the idea of counting up, to keep track of when you started this wonderful adventure called retirement. If you want to start your own count-up or count-down, here is the site I am using Ticket Counter. It is at  https://www.tickcounter.com/ 

Is Time running out?

The simple answer is no, but if you think about it to much then time can keep slipping into the future. You only ever have to do what you're capable of doing, because by design, no matter how things appear, you'll always have enough time to do it, you'll do even better than you thought, and life will get even richer than you imagined.

So go out and Fly like the Eagle, as you listen to the Steve Miller Band