Older workers — especially women — are staying longer in the workforce, reducing the danger of sudden labour shortages as baby boomers hit retirement age, Statistics Canada says.

A study published Friday says that more than 2.1 million people aged 55 to 64, representing 12 per cent of the workforce, were employed or looking for work in 2006.

That compares with just over one million, representing 10 per cent of the workforce, three decades earlier.

One big change was the tendency of women to keep working, the study says, offering contrasting figures:

• 32 per cent of older women were in the workforce in 1976, a figure that rose steadily to 51 per cent 2006.
• 76 per cent of older men were in the workforce in 1976, a figure that fell to 58 per cent in 1995 before rebounding to 67 per cent in 2006.
• The combined rate for both sexes rose from 53 per cent in 1976 to 59 per cent in 2006.

"Women's labour force attachment today is much stronger throughout the life cycle than in the past," co-authors Katherine Marshall and Vincent Ferrao write.

"Therefore, as younger generations of women reach their retirement years, they will have higher rates of labour force participation than their predecessors."

Increasing education levels are another reason to expect older people to keep working, they argue. "The higher the level of education, the greater the likelihood of being employed, since more schooling often translates into higher-quality job opportunities and higher earnings."

Even so, the rewards of working into your late 50s and early 60s are not shared equally.

Older men tend to work shorter hours and have higher hourly earnings (averaging $24.31) than younger men, while older women earn an average of $19.23, slightly less than younger women, and end up more than $300 a week behind their male counterparts, the study says.

This is partly because about a quarter of older women work part time, it says.

Alberta leads in employment

Across the country, employment rates for people aged 55 to 64 were at record levels in 2006, but Alberta was the champion, with 68 per cent of older people holding jobs, the study says.

"Because of the oil boom, the province has been experiencing labour shortages in many industries and occupations and is attracting workers of all ages. It is therefore not surprising to see Alberta continuing to lead the way in the proportion of older workers with a job.

"Saskatchewan and Manitoba also had rates of over 60 per cent.

"The proportions in Ontario and British Columbia were also slightly above the national rate of 56 per cent, while Prince Edward Island was just below (54 per cent). Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick as well as Newfoundland and Labrador were further below the national average, although they have also shown upward trends in recent years."