Periods of unemployment or staying home to raise your children
Suzanne found a job as soon as she completed her university degree. When her daughter Danielle was born 8 years later, she decided to stay at home to raise her family. Five years later her son Marc was born, followed by another daughter, Monique, three years after that.
When her youngest daughter Monique was six years old, Suzanne decided to return to work. She had been out of the paid work force for 14 years but found a job in her field of study.
Fourteen years later, Suzanne was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Within a couple of years, she was unable to continue working and left her job.
Unable to work and disabled, Suzanne applied for a Canada Pension Plan disability benefit. Her application for disability benefits was approved and she received a letter from the Canada Pension Plan telling her that she would receive $740.87 a month.
Earlier that month, Suzanne had received a letter from the Canada Pension Plan asking if she had ever been out of the paid work force to raise her children. Since Suzanne had stayed home 14 years to raise her three children, she decided to complete the form (called a Child Rearing Drop Out Provision) and returned it to the Canada Pension Plan with certified photocopies of her children's birth certificates.
When the Canada Pension Plan received this new information, Suzanne's disability benefit was recalculated to $917.43 a month.
When Suzanne applies for her CPP retirement pension at age 65, the years she stayed at home with her children and the years that she was receiving a disability benefit will all be removed from the calculation of her benefit.
Case study summary - Staying at home to raise children
- 1962 - Suzanne finishes university
- 1972 - Suzanne leaves work after daughter's birth
- 1986 - Suzanne returns to the paid work force
- 1998 - Suzanne is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
- 2000 - Suzanne applies for a CPP disability benefit
- 2000 - Suzanne's benefit is re-calculated at a higher amount because the years of no earnings were removed from the calculation