Over the past few years, several studies have documented a trend towards lower incomes for working Canadians, especially workers under the age of 35.

But now it appears that wages are not the only thing in decline – the number of workers covered by pension plans has also fallen sharply over the past 15 years.

According to Statistics Canada, about 50 percent of all Canadian workers had pension plans in 1984. By 1998, that figure had dropped to 41 percent.

Here in Alberta, the situation is even worse – only about 36 percent of wage and salary earning employees are covered by registered pension plans.

The drop in pension coverage has been particularly dramatic for young workers.

In 1984, about 54 percent of male workers between the ages of 25-34 had pensions, as did about 47 percent of the working women in the same age bracket.

By 1998, these figures had fallen to 43 percent for men and 39 percent for women.

A large part of the drop in pension coverage can be attributed to the steady erosion of union membership in Canada, which has fallen from 35 per cent of the workforce 15 years ago to just barely over 30 per cent today.

The drop in union membership is significant because people working in union settings are much more likely to have pensions.

According to Statistics Canada, only about one–third of non-union workers have pensions – versus more than 80 percent of unionized employees.

Some observers say the trend towards lower pension coverage is unimportant because Canadians are setting more money aside for retirement in the form of private RRSPs.

On the surface, this sounds like a persuasive argument. After all, the amount of money being invested in RRSPs has grown substantially over the past ten years.

But a recent Statistics Canada report shows that most of the new investment in RRSPs is being made by wealthier Canadians – many of whom have pensions and other investments to supplement their retirement income.

Lower-income Canadians, on the other hand, are putting little or no money into RRSPs. And it’s increasingly rare that they have pension plans to fall back on.

"The bottom line is that the people at the middle and bottom of the income ladder in Canada don’t have enough money to make significant investments in RRSPs," says AFL president Les Steel.

"And now, as a result of the decline in pension coverage, they won’t have pension income either. What this shows is that there is a crisis in retirement income brewing in this country. If something isn’t done to change things, many younger Canadians are going to face a very lean retirement."