Almost 8 per cent of people aged 45 to 64 had bankruptcy in adulthood: StatsCan

Average age for bankruptcy was 40

More than 480,000 people between the ages of 45 to 64 filed at least one bankruptcy during adulthood, according to Statistics Canada’s article "How does bankruptcy affect retirement plans?" in the April 2011 online issue of Canadian Social Trends.

On average, respondents were 40 years old when they declared bankruptcy and were likely to have lower levels of education. Those who switched jobs frequently were more likely to go through a bankruptcy, said the survey which used data from the 2007 General Social Survey.

“A slight majority of pre-retirees who had experienced bankruptcy wanted to retire by the age of 65,” said the study. “However, less than half believed that their retirement income would be sufficient to maintain their standard of living.”

Those who experienced bankruptcy were less likely to have a pension from a current or previous employment and were less likely to work white-collar, higher-income positions such as management or professional occupations, according to Statistics Canada.

About 61 per cent lived in a household with an annual income under $50,000, compared with 37 per cent of other pre-retirement Canadians, found the study.

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