Subjective income security of (middle) aging and elderly Canadians

We examine subjective income security among Canadians aged 45 and over, usi ng quantitative data. We examine the relationship between demographic, soci o-economic and social-psychological variables and income security, measured in multivariate analyses as the likelihood of dissatisfaction with current and expected future income. Our discussion is focussed on several unexpect ed findings related to the effects of age, marital status and gender on sub jective income security. Five social-psychological theories - aspiration th eory, reference group theory, equity theory, the life review, and socializa tion/identity theory - may help to account for these findings. While the th eories cannot be tested using these data, they provide directions for futur e research in this area. We conclude that subjective evaluations of income adequacy ought not to be the means by which social policies on income redis tribution are determined.