Low income and inequality

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All (12) (0 to 10 of 12 results)

  • Stats in brief: 98-200-X2021009
    Description: This Census in Brief article focuses on the experiences of poverty in Canada based on data from the 2021 Census. It examines disaggregated poverty trends by age, gender, family situation, immigration status as well as by Indigenous identity and for racialized groups. When possible, comparisons are made to data from the 2016 Census.
    Release date: 2022-11-09

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2021004
    Description:

    Previous Canadian studies on poverty and low-income persistence mostly focused on individual characteristics at the national level and rarely examined the geographical aspect of poverty persistence. This report takes advantage of the large sample size of the Longitudinal Administrative Databank and examines the evolution of low-income persistence in Canada and the provinces using the after-tax Low Income Measure.

    Release date: 2021-06-11

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2014002
    Description:

    Statistics that depict the movements in the bottom end of the income distribution, such as the proportion of low-income persons exiting low income from one year to the next, provide important information for developing policy on poverty and income inequality. Since the mid 1990s, these statistics have been generated using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). The longitudinal component of the SLID was discontinued in 2010. This paper examines new and alternative time series on low income dynamics that can be created using the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD).

    Release date: 2014-12-19

  • Stats in brief: 99-014-X201100311861
    Description:

    These two short articles provide complementary analysis to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) analytical document on the composition of income in Canada. They focus on specific topics of interest. The first NHS in Brief is entitled Education and occupations of high-income Canadians, and the second, Persons living in low-income neighbourhoods.

    Release date: 2013-09-11

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2012001
    Description:

    This study examines low income in Canada over a 34-year period from 1976 to 2009 with a multi-line, multi-index approach using data from the Survey of Consumer Finance (1976 to 1995) and Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (1996 to 2009). Three different low income lines are used: the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs); the Low Income Measure (LIM) and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). In addition, three indexes are used to measure the incidence, depth and severity of low income in the study.

    We first examine the evolution of low-income at the national level. This is followed by an investigation of the low income experiences of children, seniors, lone-parents, unattached non-elderly individuals, recent immigrants, off-reserve aboriginals and persons with activity limitations. Next, we compare low incomes across the ten provinces as well as seven Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA). Finally, we study low income mobility in Canada during the 1993-to-2009 period.

    Release date: 2012-03-07

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2010004
    Description:

    Statistics Canada introduced its Low Income Measure (LIM) in 1991 as a complement to its Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs). The Low Income Measure (LIM) is a dollar threshold that delineates low-income in relation to the median income and different versions of this measure are in wide use internationally. Over the intervening 25 years there have been a number of useful methodological and conceptual developments in the area of low income measurement. To make the Canadian LIM methodology consistent with international norms and practices, a revision of the Statistics Canada LIM methodology appears desirable.

    This paper describes three modifications to the LIM that Statistics Canada plans to introduce in 2010: replacing the economic family by household; replacing the current LIM equivalence scale by the square root of household size; and taking household size into consideration in determining the low-income thresholds. The paper explains the rationale behind each modification and demonstrates the impacts the revisions will have on low-income statistics in comparison with those under the existing LIM. Overall the revisions do not have any significant effect on broad historic trends in low-income statistics in Canada. However, compared to the existing LIM the revised LIM produces lower estimates of low-income incidence for certain groups of individuals such as unattached non-elderly individuals.

    Release date: 2010-06-07

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2010003
    Description:

    This study assesses the existing LICO, LIM, and MBM lines, together with a fixed LIM, by using several distribution sensitive indexes. We found that the low income lines tracked each other well in the long-run. But, in the short-run, they often behaved differently. The same was observed when examining different indexes under the same line. In the long-run, the low income rate, gap, and severity indexes all moved in the same direction. However in the short-run, they sometimes varied in opposite directions, or in the same direction with different magnitudes, suggesting that a single line or index can be misleading in some circumstances.

    Release date: 2010-05-26

  • Articles and reports: 75-001-X20061129543
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    Major changes in the wealth structure have taken place over the last two decades. Between 1984 and 2005, virtually all population subgroups experienced a greater increase in average wealth than in median wealth, suggesting that Canadian families are becoming increasingly unequal in their capacity to deal with income shocks. The increase would have been even greater without the marked aging of the population.

    Release date: 2007-03-20

  • Articles and reports: 75-001-X200510413141
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    Prolonged periods of low earnings can limit an individual's capacity to cope with income losses or unexpected expenses, and makes economic self-sufficiency difficult. The ability to escape low earnings is linked to a number of factors, including age, firm size, and changing jobs.

    Release date: 2005-06-20

  • Articles and reports: 11-008-X20020026348
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This study examines whether the gap between high-wealth families and low-wealth families increased from 1984 to 1999, using data from the Assets and Debt Survey and the Survey of Financial Security.

    Release date: 2002-09-17
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Analysis (12)

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  • Stats in brief: 98-200-X2021009
    Description: This Census in Brief article focuses on the experiences of poverty in Canada based on data from the 2021 Census. It examines disaggregated poverty trends by age, gender, family situation, immigration status as well as by Indigenous identity and for racialized groups. When possible, comparisons are made to data from the 2016 Census.
    Release date: 2022-11-09

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2021004
    Description:

    Previous Canadian studies on poverty and low-income persistence mostly focused on individual characteristics at the national level and rarely examined the geographical aspect of poverty persistence. This report takes advantage of the large sample size of the Longitudinal Administrative Databank and examines the evolution of low-income persistence in Canada and the provinces using the after-tax Low Income Measure.

    Release date: 2021-06-11

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2014002
    Description:

    Statistics that depict the movements in the bottom end of the income distribution, such as the proportion of low-income persons exiting low income from one year to the next, provide important information for developing policy on poverty and income inequality. Since the mid 1990s, these statistics have been generated using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). The longitudinal component of the SLID was discontinued in 2010. This paper examines new and alternative time series on low income dynamics that can be created using the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD).

    Release date: 2014-12-19

  • Stats in brief: 99-014-X201100311861
    Description:

    These two short articles provide complementary analysis to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) analytical document on the composition of income in Canada. They focus on specific topics of interest. The first NHS in Brief is entitled Education and occupations of high-income Canadians, and the second, Persons living in low-income neighbourhoods.

    Release date: 2013-09-11

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2012001
    Description:

    This study examines low income in Canada over a 34-year period from 1976 to 2009 with a multi-line, multi-index approach using data from the Survey of Consumer Finance (1976 to 1995) and Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (1996 to 2009). Three different low income lines are used: the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs); the Low Income Measure (LIM) and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). In addition, three indexes are used to measure the incidence, depth and severity of low income in the study.

    We first examine the evolution of low-income at the national level. This is followed by an investigation of the low income experiences of children, seniors, lone-parents, unattached non-elderly individuals, recent immigrants, off-reserve aboriginals and persons with activity limitations. Next, we compare low incomes across the ten provinces as well as seven Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA). Finally, we study low income mobility in Canada during the 1993-to-2009 period.

    Release date: 2012-03-07

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2010004
    Description:

    Statistics Canada introduced its Low Income Measure (LIM) in 1991 as a complement to its Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs). The Low Income Measure (LIM) is a dollar threshold that delineates low-income in relation to the median income and different versions of this measure are in wide use internationally. Over the intervening 25 years there have been a number of useful methodological and conceptual developments in the area of low income measurement. To make the Canadian LIM methodology consistent with international norms and practices, a revision of the Statistics Canada LIM methodology appears desirable.

    This paper describes three modifications to the LIM that Statistics Canada plans to introduce in 2010: replacing the economic family by household; replacing the current LIM equivalence scale by the square root of household size; and taking household size into consideration in determining the low-income thresholds. The paper explains the rationale behind each modification and demonstrates the impacts the revisions will have on low-income statistics in comparison with those under the existing LIM. Overall the revisions do not have any significant effect on broad historic trends in low-income statistics in Canada. However, compared to the existing LIM the revised LIM produces lower estimates of low-income incidence for certain groups of individuals such as unattached non-elderly individuals.

    Release date: 2010-06-07

  • Articles and reports: 75F0002M2010003
    Description:

    This study assesses the existing LICO, LIM, and MBM lines, together with a fixed LIM, by using several distribution sensitive indexes. We found that the low income lines tracked each other well in the long-run. But, in the short-run, they often behaved differently. The same was observed when examining different indexes under the same line. In the long-run, the low income rate, gap, and severity indexes all moved in the same direction. However in the short-run, they sometimes varied in opposite directions, or in the same direction with different magnitudes, suggesting that a single line or index can be misleading in some circumstances.

    Release date: 2010-05-26

  • Articles and reports: 75-001-X20061129543
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    Major changes in the wealth structure have taken place over the last two decades. Between 1984 and 2005, virtually all population subgroups experienced a greater increase in average wealth than in median wealth, suggesting that Canadian families are becoming increasingly unequal in their capacity to deal with income shocks. The increase would have been even greater without the marked aging of the population.

    Release date: 2007-03-20

  • Articles and reports: 75-001-X200510413141
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    Prolonged periods of low earnings can limit an individual's capacity to cope with income losses or unexpected expenses, and makes economic self-sufficiency difficult. The ability to escape low earnings is linked to a number of factors, including age, firm size, and changing jobs.

    Release date: 2005-06-20

  • Articles and reports: 11-008-X20020026348
    Geography: Canada
    Description:

    This study examines whether the gap between high-wealth families and low-wealth families increased from 1984 to 1999, using data from the Assets and Debt Survey and the Survey of Financial Security.

    Release date: 2002-09-17
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