Women's retirement savings hurt by tax laws

UBC tax expert wins prestigious award

(Ottawa, July 10, 2003) - The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) announced today that University of British Columbia law professor Claire Young, an expert on the impact of tax policy changes on Canadian women, has been awarded the 2003 Thérèse F.-Casgrain Fellowship.

Awarded biennially, the 12-month, $40,000 Thérèse F.-Casgrain Fellowship advances research on the economic and social interests of women. The fellowship, which honours the late senator's work in the field of social justice, is administered by SSHRC and sponsored by the Thérèse F.-Casgrain Foundation.

"Women's ability to save for their retirement continues to be compromised by the fact that they more often fall in the category of low-income earners," said Marc Renaud, president of SSHRC. "They make up the majority of part-time or seasonal workers, homemakers and caregivers for their families, including their aging parents."

Professor Young will examine the negative impact on women of existing tax laws that give deductions for contributions to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and workplace pension plans.

"While financial institutions strongly promote RRSPs and there are extensive tax breaks for retirement savings, the ability to benefit from them depends on having income to make contributions," said Professor Young. "An additional challenge for women is that as part-time or casual workers they often can't access tax breaks for contributions to workplace pension plans because they don't qualify to participate in the plans. "

"With Canadians living longer and longer, it is crucial to ensure that women have equal ability to save for retirement," said professor Maïr Verthuy, president of the Thérèse F.-Casgrain Foundation Board. "Addressing this inequality in our tax system would go a long way to help women have more financial security."

In addition to examining ways to increase the fairness of the tax system, Professor Young will determine whether making changes to the pension system could help women have more access to retirement savings. She will study the impact of recent changes to the pension systems in Australia and New Zealand to determine whether they might benefit Canadian women.