Study: Rural and urban workers living in low income

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Roughly the same proportion of Canadian workers lived in low-income households in 2003, whether they inhabited a rural or an urban area, according to a new study.

Furthermore, the study found that the rural working poor were in no more dire circumstances than their urban counterparts, given that their "depth" of low income was similar. For either group, the family income was about 30% below the low-income threshold.

However, the rural and urban working poor had rather different profiles, and some factors associated with low income were specific to where Canadians lived, the study found.

The study, published today in the Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin series, found that 8.6% of workers in rural areas lived in a low-income household, just slightly higher than the 7.8% of workers in urban centres.

A low-income worker is a person who had worked in the year prior to the study and who lived in a low-income household. The study was based on data for 2003 from the Survey on Labour and Income Dynamics.

In both rural and urban areas, the main factor explaining the household low income was that the worker was the sole earner for the household.

The study cited three main changes in circumstance that allowed rural workers to escape a low-income situation. In 38% of the cases, there was a change in the employment income of another household member (i.e., other earners in the family got better wages or they increased the number of hours that they worked). In 35%, the individual was able to earn more money during the year. And in 27%, the size of the household changed — either there were fewer individuals being supported by the available income or another earner joined the household.

The study showed that rural workers living in low-income households were older than urban workers, and that they were more likely to be living in two-earner families with children. Rural workers living in low-income households were also more likely to be self-employed.

There were also regional differences. Rural workers were more likely to live in low income if they lived in Alberta or worked in a primary industry. On the other hand, urban workers were more likely to live in low income if they lived in British Columbia, or if they were young, had not finished high school or if they worked for a medium-sized business.

Being a worker in a low-income household was not a transient situation. Between 2000 and 2004, rural and urban workers living in low-income households spent about half their time in low income. About 40% experienced persistent low income.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3889.

The study "A comparison of rural and urban workers living in low income" is now available in the Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin series, Vol. 7, no. 4 (21-006-XWE, free), from the Publications module of our website.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Myriam Fortin (613-957-6315; myriam.fortin@hrsdc-rhdsc.gc.ca), Human Resources and Skills Development Canada or Ray D. Bollman (613-951-3747; ray.bollman@statcan.gc.ca), Statistics Canada, Agriculture Division.