Disability onset among aging Canadians: Evidence from panel data

Past studies of aging and disability have been restricted to and by cross-sectional data. When cross-sectional surveys measure income, disability status and age at a common point in time, it is impossible to discern the process, and consequences, of a disability onset. In other words, it is not possible to examine the circumstances of the same individuals before, and after, the disability onset; nor whether effects differ according to the age at which the disability occurs. The present study uses a new panel data set, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), to examine the prevalence of disability with respect to age, gender, and other socio-economic characteristics; however, its unique contribution is its investigation of disability onset, and the rates of entry into, and exit from, disability status by age group and gender. Further, we assess the financial circumstances of those who become disabled vis-a-vis a "control group".