Pension Coverage and Earnings Replacement Rates Among Canadian Couples

Using data from the Longitudinal Administrative Database (LAD), this paper compares the earnings replacement rates achieved in retirement by a sample of married and common-law couples in which the husband was aged 55 to 57 in 1991. Emphasis is placed on the outcomes experienced by couples in which one spouse or both spouses had registered pension plan (RPP) coverage and by couples without RPP coverage. The earnings replacement rates achieved by couples without RPP coverage are more widely dispersed than those of couples with RPP coverage. When compared at the mid-points of the pre-retirement earnings distributions, the median earnings replacement rates of couples without RPP coverage are about three to six percentage points lower than those of couples with RPP coverage. In contrast, the average earnings replacement rates of couples without RPP coverage are generally six to twelve percentage points higher than those of couples with RPP coverage