Lina Ko March 15th, 2010
Last week, Statistics Canada confirmed what we see in Canada everyday – the country is becoming less white. According to the Ottawa Citizen, in 20 years, Caucasians will constitute a minority in some of our biggest cities.
As a visible minority, I agree with the newspaper that the expansion of Canada’s non-European population just might be a good thing for the country. We are a sparsely populated country covering a large geography, and our sparse population is aging. We, therefore, need people. Futurists have long predicted that declining birth rates is scary for this country. Without people we won’t have workers, and without workers, we won’t have an economy.
Immigration itself won’t solve Canada’s birthrate problem, but it will help. Non-European immigration is particularly helpful because members of this group, at least for the first generation or two, tend to have more babies than the rest of Canada. As an immigrant from Hong Kong myself, I’m certainly grateful to this country for embracing me with both arms some 20 years ago. I also hope that I have been contributing to this country in many ways (although not in giving birth) in the last two decades.
Although the Chinese in Canada have one of the lowest birth rates, nearly 90 percent of young Chinese immigrants in Canada go to university, a finding that stunned the researchers who published it last fall. The Citizen pointed out that if we include community colleges, the figures show that more than 98 percent of Chinese immigrants in Canada seek post-secondary education by the age of 21. So when StatsCan announces that Canada’s Chinese population could reach three million by 2031, we should celebrate because we could have new technology and marketing start-ups, medical school graduates, engineers, chartered accountants and scientists.
Another analysis, based on the 2006 census and performed by the Association for Canadian Studies, found that 75 percent of Korean Canadians have university degrees. Filipino Canadians come in at 59 percent. About 52 percent of Arab Canadians have university degrees.
Minority populations will more than double in the next 20 years – from 2.3 million in 2006 to 5.6 million in 2031. Toronto will have 43 percent of all the diversity of the country. In 2031, one in four residents of the GTA will be South Asian, exceeding all other minorities by far. Besides high immigration rates, South Asians have a higher birth rate than many other visible minorities. Given the talented South Asian people I’ve come across, this country will definitely benefit from the next few generations of South Asians as many ‘leading-edge’ boomers (in their late 50s and early 60s) and traditionalists retire.
The face of Canadians is changing, and this is certainly good for our nation.
Lina Ko January 18th, 2010
In recent weeks, another roadside pedestrian death has raised questions about whether seniors over 80 should be allowed to drive. Last week in Toronto, a mother pushing her infant son in a stroller was killed by an 83-year-old woman who allegedly ran a red light.
So, when should seniors park it? According to the Toronto Sun, it’s one of the toughest things you can tell an older person to hand over the car keys. Taking a person’s car means taking away their independence. However, as the population ages, this will become a bigger issue. Many baby boomers are passionate about maintaining their independence and they won’t give up the car keys without a fight.
Ministry of Transportation figures actually show that over the five-year period 2002-2006, the average yearly fatal collision involvement rate per 10,000 young drivers (aged 16-19) was 2.15; the rate for seniors (aged 65 and above) was 1.11. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, it isn’t age that impacts driving so much as it is medical conditions that predominantly affect seniors. Others, with conditions such as dementia or failing eyesight, should not be on the road at all.
I think it’s ultimately a sense of responsibility. Many boomers are now very agile and fit to drive. It will be a long time before they will be asked to give up their car keys when they become seniors. But, as with parental guidance for their children, people around seniors should really advise them to stop driving when the time comes – that maybe sooner for some people and later for others. Independence is important, but not when it is at the expense of pedestrians’ or other motorists’ safety.
Lina Ko September 24th, 2009
According to the Globe and Mail, Canada is heading for a mini-baby boom as the offspring of boomers enter their childbearing years and women put their careers first.
Canadian women gave birth to 367,864 babies in 2007, up 13,247 babies from 2006 – the fastest annual increase since 1989, according to Statistics Canada. Analysts attribute the surge to two colliding demographics – ‘baby busters’ aged 33 to 41; and women born to boomers, the ‘echo’ generation aged 12 to 32, and now poised to give birth.
Professor David Foot, demographer and author of Boom, Bust and Echo, was quoted as saying that the children of the boomers are getting into their late 20s now and that’s when some people start having children.
The data revealed another shift: Women in their 30s bore more babies than women in their 20s, for the second year in a row. Women have been postponing their childbirth. Ten years ago, the highest fertility rate was between 25 and 29, and since 2006, the age group is 30 to 34. The increase of older motherhood points to the fact that most professional women choose to postpone their motherhood to pursue their career. According to StatsCan, total fertility rates – the average number of children per woman – increased to 1.66 in 2007 from 1.59 in 2006 – which is good news for an ageing country like ours.
Boomers’ grandchildren are also giving their grandparents a second chance to be more involved. There were a lot of boomers who were so focused on their careers that they might not have been the best of parents. With their grandchildren now, they get another chance to be more aware of the roles that they play and become more actively involved.
Lina Ko June 29th, 2009
Last week, two boomers whom I grew up with passed away on the same day – Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett. The former was a musical and entertainment icon while the latter influenced us in pop culture and hairstyle in the 70’s.
I sympathize with Farah Fawcett whose death kind of got sidestepped by the media just because she was unfortunate enough to die on the same day as Michael Jackson, who’s obviously perceived to be bigger in global stature. Larry King who prepared a tribute to the former Charlie’s Angel moved the story from the headline to the sidelines. The Canadian media didn’t do much better. As little as I know about Farah Fawcett’s long struggle with anal cancer, her fight demonstrated a fierce and unrelenting physical strength – in a phone interview, Fawcett’s friend Cher reiterated how Fawcett’s struggle was almost unheard of.
Michael Jackson’s death, in spite of its tragic nature, was a result of declining mental health over a few decades. Jackson has been a tormented soul for a long time. His insecurities about his appearance; his loss of innocent childhood; his constant drive for perfection in spite of his past career prime; and the endless child-abuse allegations drove him to rely on prescription drugs. His downfall has been happening for a long time; yet his unexpected death at 50 triggered a worldwide sensation.
For us boomers, it’s a lesson that mental health is equally important to physical strength. Without the former, the latter will falter. Whether a passing is expected or sudden, let’s remember two influential boomers whose art and lives affected us at some time when we’re growing up.
Lina Ko June 25th, 2009
A recent article in the Globe and Mail reported that job-seeking boomers are joining the ranks of social networkers to hunt for jobs. Until recently, social media such as Facebook were only places to connect with old friends or schoolmates. But when the economy took a nosedive, many boomers have been leveraging social media not just a place for online chatter, but as a crucial job-hunting tool.
Boomers feel that if they are not online, they might be overlooked – a frightening prospect to the middle boomers: the 50-plus crowd. Experts say that baby boomers are joining the ranks of social networkers faster than any other demographic. They are building professional profiles and as a result, many are finding jobs. A January report from Forrester Research shows 60 percent of Americans over age 50 regularly use social media such as blogs, podcasts and online videos. While boomers know sites like LinkedIn are purely professional, they are often shocked to learn Twitter and Facebook can be useful on the job hunt.
According to some recruiters, being active on these social-networking sites can really give a boomer-aged job hunter an edge. Because most people assume boomers are not digital, any boomers who are well connected online will be perceived as progressive. One of the key attributes that somebody of that age can use to differentiate themselves is to demonstrate a comfort zone for using those tools and actually using them frequently.
Lina Ko November 10th, 2008
I read with interest that at long last a TV station has been launched, targeting specifically at boomer women. According to The Toronto Sun, the network known as Canadian Learning Television (CLT) is rebranded as Viva, programmed for women aged 40-64. Corus Entertainment, the owner, said that it’s less about specific ages and more about life stage.
Boomer women keep saying that even though they watch a lot of TV, they feel largely ignored. And the advertising messages are not for them. This TV station is all about them now. The bottom line is about boomer women having huge control over finances in the country. They have been demanding customized programming and advertisers have been asking about it as well.
The marquee program in Viva’s launch period is Lost in Austen, a British series making a Canadian debut. It’s about a modern-day woman who worships author Jane Austen and is suddenly transported back into the world of Sense and Sensibility. Boomer women should now vote with their remote control!
Lina Ko September 17th, 2007
A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives discovered that Canada’s ageing population will have little impact on the cost of maintaining a viable national public health-care system over the next 40 years. The report seeks to debunk the myth of runaway costs as baby boomers enter their final years.
The research predicts that the ageing baby-boomer generation will add less than one per cent to health-care costs each year. It also reassures everybody that the cost of maintaining the health-care system well into the future will be easily met by economic growth.
Taking into account ageing, population growth and inflation, Canada’s public system can be maintained at current levels by increasing expenditures about 4.4 per cent a year. That’s below the nominal growth in the economy, which has averaged 5.4 per cent over the past 20 years.
The report also found that health-care costs do not rise uniformly as people age. In fact, most of the costs associated with ageing occur in the last year of life, at rates about 50 to 100 times higher than seniors in general.
In conclusion, the report says that ageing contributed a mere 0.8 per cent to the cost of public health care in the last decade. Extrapolating into the future, the costs associated with ageing will rise slightly but remain less than one per cent per annum over the next 40 years. The biggest cost drivers in the health-care system are for new drugs, diagnostic imaging and usage – not the ageing population!
Lina Ko June 20th, 2007
According to the latest issue of The Economist, by 2020 over half of Britain’s millionaires may be female. In April this year, 92 females graced the Sunday Times Rich List, an annual round-up of Britain’s 1,000 wealthiest people. A decade ago there were 64. Over the last 10 years, the average worth of female millionaires has grown by more than half. The Centre for Economics and Business Research reckons female millionaires will outnumber male ones by 2020, and by 2025, women will control 60% of Britain’s private wealth. Girl power seems to be thriving? Not so soon!
Is the increasing number of affluent women a result of the usual sources – marriage, inheritance and divorce – or do women now derive their riches from personal earnings or success from their own businesses? Philip Beresford, who compiles the Rich List in Britain, dismisses the idea that women are breaking into its ranks independently of men. A glance at the number of women in the top ranks of business confirms his belief. Women make up only a tenth of the directors of the FTSE-100 firms. They are also under-represented in the upper echelons of management. In fact, according to a recent report compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the number of female senior managers in FTSE-350 firms had fallen by 40% since 2002.
If there is indeed a glass ceiling at the top, women at the bottom find the going even tougher. Although the gap between men’s and women’s earnings has shrunk for those at all income levels in most developed countries around the world, men still dominate highly-paid work, and the proportion of female graduates in low-level jobs has rocketed in the past decade.
Closer to home, the numbers are not any better. According to Women On Board, a new organization created to match promising female executives with some of Canada’s most powerful senior businesspeople, the percentage of female directors on the boards of Canada’s 300 largest companies has hovered at only about eight per cent for more than a decade.
Perhaps successful women baby boomers in business should contribute to narrowing the equality gap between the sexes by mentoring their younger counterparts and playing a major role in organizations such as Women On Board, Catalyst and Women’s Future Fund?
Lina Ko March 15th, 2007
I read with interest Rob Carrick’s column today in The Globe and Mail on the RRSP turning 50 today. Now that RRSP is even a boomer itself, we’re looking at new challenges faced by this once almighty, tax-deferring retirement-saving vehicle. With last year’s enhancement of the dividend tax credit, this 50-year old boomer is certainly facing new competitors. Canadians who are saving for their retirement years can now turn to dividend fund in a non-registered retirement account or even stocks. Marketing to the tail end of the boomers or even to younger Canadians now requires more options and analysis of the different scenarios that investors might be facing. Watch out for the announcement of Monday’s budget to fine-tune your marketing directions! It isn’t time for the 50-year old RRSP to retire yet, but life for the RRSP will no longer be as hectic as before.