Highlights

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1. Median after-tax income rose for most Canadian families in 2007 as economic growth fostered gains in employment which in turn contributed to the growth of market income, according to new data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).
2. The 2007 median after-tax income rose 3.7% to $61,800 for Canadian families. Median after-tax income of unattached individuals rose 3.9% to $24,200 in 2007.
3. For the fourth consecutive year, families living in Alberta had the highest median after-tax income ($75,300), followed by those in Ontario ($65,900) and British Columbia ($63,300).
4. Newfoundland and Labrador families experienced the highest median after-tax income growth, an 8.8% increase from 2006 to 2007. Those families saw their median after-tax income increase from $46,800 in 2006 to $50,900 in 2007. Newfoundland and Labrador saw its natural resource sector stimulated with the opening of mines and the increase of oil extraction.
5. Market income, that is, the sum of earnings from employment, investment income and private retirement income, was the main contributor to the increase in after-tax income.Median market income for families rose 3.0% from 2006 to $62,700 in 2007, while it increased 6.7% for unattached individuals.
6. Median market income in 2007 increased 2.3% (from $68,200 to $69,800) for families whose main income earner was under 65 years of age, while senior families’ median market income increased 6.3% to $25,300 in 2007.Unattached seniors saw an increase of $800 in their median market income in 2007 ($7,800) and so did their non-senior counterpart, with a $900 increase in their median market income in 2007 ($26,700).
7. Families saw a decrease in median income taxes, while their government transfers remained virtually unchanged from 2006. Families received $4,900 in government transfers in 2007 and their median taxes were $8,600 (down $600 from 2006). Unattached individuals received median government transfers of $700 and paid $2,200 of income taxes.
8. The low income situation in Canada improved in 2007. 9.2% of Canadians living in the ten provinces were below the after-tax low income cut offs, compared to 10.5% in 2006. This is the lowest low-income rate observed in thirty years.
9. It is estimated that 3 million Canadians were below the low income cut-off in 2007. About one in ten or 637,000 children under 18 year old lived in low-income families.
10. Seniors living on their own face a much different reality than their senior counterparts that live in families. Seniors living alone experienced a low income rate substantially higher than seniors living in families in 2007 (13.9% versus. 1.1%).
11. One in five Canadians experienced low income for at least one year over the six-year period from 2002 to 2007. Of those who experienced low income at some point during this period, most lived in this situation for one or two years (40% and 21% respectively).