BCTF Research Report

Section II
2004-TD-02

Age Profile of Teachers and Educators in B.C.,
September 30, 2003

By Colleen Hawkey
BCTF Research Department

A dominant force shaping the age structure of the teaching force is the aging baby boom generation. Although only one factor among many in the area of teacher supply and demand, it is a crucial piece of information as many teachers near retirement age. The following charts and table provide a snapshot of the age profile of teachers and educators in British Columbia.

2004td02chart1

The average age of retirement for teachers in B.C. is 59 years; the minimum retirement age with a pension is 55 years.

Chart 1 (above) shows the age distribution of teachers (excluding principals, vice principals and directors of instruction). Over 5,400 or 16% of teachers are 55 years of age or older. Over 12,800 teachers, about 38%, are age 50 or older and therefore likely to retire in the next 5 to 10 years.

Chart 2 shows the age distribution of administrative officers. Compared to the teaching force, there is a slightly higher proportion of administrators 55 years of age or older (55.5%), and 23% are 55 or older.

Table 1 gives a breakdown of administrators and teachers 50 years and older by age category and by district.

Table 1: Teachers and Administrators over 50 years, by age group, Sept. 30, 2003

District Number	Position	Age 50-54	Age 55-59	Age 60-64	Age 65 & over	All Ages TOTAL	Proportion age 50 and older	Proportion age 55 and older
5	AOs	17	5	1	0	31	74.2%	19.4%
	Teachers	86	65	7	0	338	46.7%	21.3%
6	AOs	4	6	0	0	27	37.0%	22.2%
	Teachers	49	32	2	0	227	36.6%	15.0%
8	AOs	10	7	1	0	36	50.0%	22.2%
	Teachers	98	58	5	0	375	42.9%	16.8%
10	AOs	2	1	0	0	5	60.0%	20.0%
	Teachers	13	7	0	0	47	42.6%	14.9%
19	AOs	0	1	0	0	6	16.7%	16.7%
	Teachers	17	6	3	0	89	29.2%	10.1%
20	AOs	7	3	1	0	22	50.0%	18.2%
	Teachers	71	50	3	0	277	44.8%	19.1%
22	AOs	13	6	0	0	44	43.2%	13.6%
	Teachers	106	65	4	0	532	32.9%	13.0%
23	AOs	19	9	0	0	69	40.6%	13.0%
	Teachers	291	152	15	0	1162	39.4%	14.4%
27	AOs	14	10	0	1	48	52.1%	22.9%
	Teachers	96	69	8	1	404	43.1%	19.3%
28	AOs	6	5	0	0	26	42.3%	19.2%
	Teachers	65	47	7	0	247	48.2%	21.9%
33	AOs	19	10	0	0	55	52.7%	18.2%
	Teachers	138	63	17	1	670	32.7%	12.1%
34	AOs	27	12	2	0	80	51.3%	17.5%
	Teachers	198	106	17	0	1072	29.9%	11.5%
35	AOs	38	20	2	0	94	63.8%	23.4%
	Teachers	255	159	31	0	1138	39.1%	16.7%
36	AOs	70	44	8	1	211	58.3%	25.1%
	Teachers	722	507	98	13	3648	36.7%	16.9%
37	AOs	28	11	3	0	64	65.6%	21.9%
	Teachers	252	190	23	1	1018	45.8%	21.0%
38	AOs	36	20	2	0	112	51.8%	19.6%
	Teachers	268	168	25	0	1338	34.5%	14.4%
39	AOs	66	44	8	0	188	62.8%	27.7%
	Teachers	699	512	117	0	3527	37.7%	17.8%
40	AOs	7	8	2	0	24	70.8%	41.7%
	Teachers	71	34	8	0	392	28.8%	10.7%
41	AOs	29	19	0	0	80	60.0%	23.8%
	Teachers	313	179	37	0	1473	35.9%	14.7%
42	AOs	18	11	4	0	67	49.3%	22.4%
	Teachers	159	101	16	1	902	30.7%	13.1%
43	AOs	41	27	2	0	107	65.4%	27.1%
	Teachers	320	187	28	0	1900	28.2%	11.3%
44	AOs	27	24	1	0	93	55.9%	26.9%
	Teachers	237	150	27	4	1035	40.4%	17.5%
45	AOs	9	6	1	0	38	42.1%	18.4%
	Teachers	71	54	8	0	392	33.9%	15.8%
46	AOs	5	1	0	0	18	33.3%	5.6%
	Teachers	60	28	3	1	252	36.5%	12.7%
47	AOs	5	6	0	0	14	78.6%	42.9%
	Teachers	31	32	6	0	157	43.9%	24.2%
48	AOs	7	1	3	0	22	50.0%	18.2%
	Teachers	36	31	2	0	249	27.7%	13.3%
49	AOs	1	0	0	0	2	50.0%	0.0%
	Teachers	6	3	0	0	29	31.0%	10.3%
50	AOs	1	0	1	0	10	20.0%	10.0%
	Teachers	9	5	1	0	59	25.4%	10.2%
51	AOs	3	2	0	0	11	45.5%	18.2%
	Teachers	27	17	6	0	114	43.9%	20.2%
52	AOs	3	2	2	0	16	43.8%	25.0%
	Teachers	45	31	7	1	195	43.1%	20.0%
53	AOs	8	2	1	0	19	57.9%	15.8%
	Teachers	44	22	1	0	171	39.2%	13.5%
54	AOs	3	8	0	0	16	68.8%	50.0%
	Teachers	37	18	4	0	162	36.4%	13.6%
57	AOs	32	19	1	0	81	64.2%	24.7%
	Teachers	260	154	23	0	960	45.5%	18.4%
58	AOs	5	5	0	0	18	55.6%	27.8%
	Teachers	40	22	2	0	183	35.0%	13.1%
59	AOs	7	7	1	0	33	45.5%	24.2%
	Teachers	35	13	9	0	234	24.4%	9.4%
60	AOs	8	4	0	0	32	37.5%	12.5%
	Teachers	63	22	5	0	326	27.6%	8.3%
61	AOs	35	34	4	0	114	64.0%	33.3%
	Teachers	289	216	38	1	1122	48.5%	22.7%
62	AOs	17	8	1	0	47	55.3%	19.1%
	Teachers	161	62	4	2	486	47.1%	14.0%
63	AOs	16	5	1	0	37	59.5%	16.2%
	Teachers	130	79	10	0	511	42.9%	17.4%
64	AOs	5	2	1	0	16	50.0%	18.8%
	Teachers	33	28	4	1	113	58.4%	29.2%
67	AOs	9	4	1	0	36	38.9%	13.9%
	Teachers	95	48	8	0	403	37.5%	13.9%
68	AOs	25	14	2	0	69	59.4%	23.2%
	Teachers	228	136	25	0	855	45.5%	18.8%
69	AOs	13	1	1	0	24	62.5%	8.3%
	Teachers	68	33	4	0	291	36.1%	12.7%
70	AOs	10	4	1	0	28	53.6%	17.9%
	Teachers	86	44	10	0	260	53.8%	20.8%
71	AOs	15	17	0	0	53	60.4%	32.1%
	Teachers	114	70	9	0	530	36.4%	14.9%
72	AOs	15	11	1	0	37	73.0%	32.4%
	Teachers	113	45	7	0	378	43.7%	13.8%
73	AOs	21	19	1	0	69	59.4%	29.0%
	Teachers	229	137	15	1	868	44.0%	17.6%
74	AOs	4	3	0	0	12	58.3%	25.0%
	Teachers	34	12	2	2	123	40.7%	13.0%
75	AOs	10	8	1	0	41	46.3%	22.0%
	Teachers	78	51	8	2	394	35.3%	15.5%
78	AOs	3	3	1	0	14	50.0%	28.6%
	Teachers	41	15	4	0	134	44.8%	14.2%
79	AOs	16	12	1	0	47	61.7%	27.7%
	Teachers	116	80	7	0	534	38.0%	16.3%
81	AOs	0	1	0	0	7	14.3%	14.3%
	Teachers	5	4	1	0	78	12.8%	6.4%
82	AOs	8	4	1	0	36	36.1%	13.9%
	Teachers	60	53	17	0	363	35.8%	19.3%
83	AOs	9	7	0	0	42	38.1%	16.7%
	Teachers	115	76	7	0	448	44.2%	18.5%
84	AOs	2	2	1	0	5	100.0%	60.0%
	Teachers	8	12	2	1	40	57.5%	37.5%
85	AOs	8	2	0	0	15	66.7%	13.3%
	Teachers	34	22	2	0	115	50.4%	20.9%
87	AOs	3	0	1	0	6	66.7%	16.7%
	Teachers	4	2	0	0	24	25.0%	8.3%
91	AOs	7	11	0	0	33	54.5%	33.3%
	Teachers	51	29	4	0	291	28.9%	11.3%
92	AOs	2	0	2	0	7	57.1%	28.6%
	Teachers	7	9	1	0	39	43.6%	25.6%
93	AOs	7	2	0	0	27	33.3%	7.4%
	Teachers	22	13	1	0	227	15.9%	6.2%
Prov	AOs	855	540	69	2	2641	55.5%	23.1%
	Teachers	7409	4635	765	33	33921	37.9%	16.0%

Source: Ministry of Education Standard Report #2059, September 30, 2003. There are 40 teachers working in two districts, therefore the total number shown here exceeds the actual number in the province by 40.

Chart 3 compares the age distribution in 1978 with the distribution in 2003.

2004td02chart3

November 2004

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BCTF Research Report

Age Profile of Teachers and Educators in B.C., September 30, 2003

Table 1: Teachers and Administrators over 50 years, by age group, Sept. 30, 2003

Age Profile of Teachers and Educators in B.C.,
September 30, 2003