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| Selected characteristics of persons in low-income families | Low income |
Low income and no financial wealth1 |
Low income and financial wealth < income gap2 |
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1983 |
1998 |
2004 |
1984 |
1999 |
2005 |
1984 |
1999 |
2005 |
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% |
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| All families | 13.8 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 9.8 | 9.5 | 9.1 | ||
| Age of major income recipient (MIR) | |||||||||||
| Less than 25 | 28.8 | 47.5 | 38.2 | 13.3 | 22.7 | 17.6 | 24.6 | 38.9 | 32.8 | ||
| 25 to 34 | 14.6 | 18.0 | 17.7 | 6.3 | 9.4 | 7.2 | 11.4 | 14.6 | 13.6 | ||
| 35 to 44 | 10.5 | 12.9 | 12.3 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 8.0 | 8.8 | 8.8 | ||
| 45 to 54 | 8.9 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 5.8 | ||
| 55 to 64 | 12.2 | 12.1 | 9.4 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 5.7 | ||
| 65 and over | 20.3 | 8.2 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 9.1 | 3.6 | 2.9 | ||
| Education level of MIR | |||||||||||
| Not a university graduate | 15.1 | 15.1 | 14.3 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.9 | ||
| University graduate | 6.1 | 8.5 | 7.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 4.0 | ||
| Age/education of MIR | |||||||||||
| 25 to 34 | |||||||||||
| Not a university graduate | 16.0 | 19.9 | 22.1 | 6.6 | 10.8 | 9.9 | 12.5 | 16.5 | 17.8 | ||
| University graduate | 7.7 | 11.9 | 8.5 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 1.6 | 6.1 | 8.6 | 5.0 | ||
| 35 to 54 | |||||||||||
| Not a university graduate | 11.0 | 12.3 | 11.8 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 9.0 | ||
| University graduate | 4.3 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 4.8 | 3.6 | ||
| Family type | |||||||||||
| Unattached individual | |||||||||||
| Elderly | 47.9 | 21.3 | 16.5 | 8.3 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 19.5 | 9.4 | 7.2 | ||
| Non elderly | 34.1 | 37.6 | 35.1 | 14.7 | 16.8 | 15 | 26.9 | 30.0 | 30.5 | ||
| Couple, no children | 6.6 | 6.8 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.5 | ||
| Couple, children under 18 | 9.8 | 10.3 | 9.3 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 5.2 | ||
| Couple, children 18 and over | 3.0 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | ||
| Elderly couple, no children | 5.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | ||
| Lone-parent | 49.9 | 44.5 | 46.5 | 20.7 | 24.0 | 27.5 | 42.7 | 37.5 | 41.7 | ||
| Female | 53.6 | 49.3 | 50.0 | 21.9 | 26.7 | 29.6 | 45.7 | 42.1 | 44.6 | ||
| Other | 14.9 | 9.8 | 6.9 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 12.1 | 5.7 | 5.3 | ||
| Immigration status of MIR | |||||||||||
| Canadian-born | 13.6 | 12.2 | 10.7 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 9.9 | 8.6 | 8.2 | ||
| Immigrant | 14.9 | 17.9 | 18.8 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 9.6 | 12.3 | 12.1 | ||
| Less than 10 years ago | 23.1 | 35.6 | 34.5 | 7.3 | 12.8 | 9.7 | 15.7 | 25.6 | 21.2 | ||
| 10 years ago or more | 12.9 | 11.3 | 12.6 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 8.2 | 7.4 | 8.6 | ||
1 Zero or negative financial wealth. Financial wealth is defined as net worth minus net equity in housing and net business equity. |
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| 2 The income gap is the difference between a family’s low-income cutoff and its after-tax income. | |||||||||||
| Sources: Statistics Canada, Assets and Debts Survey, 1984; Survey of Financial Security, 1999 and 2005 | |||||||||||