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Printed from The Vanier Institute of the Family's website at www.vifamily.ca. © 2007.
February 7, 2007 Over a Million Canadian Households are Millionaires – Ottawa— You may wonder how Canada’s families are faring these days. Not surprisingly, the answer depends on which families you have in mind. Those at the top seem to be doing very, very well. In fact, most of the income and wealth gains recorded over the last fifteen years have gone into their pockets, savings accounts and investment portfolios. But the rest of us – almost 10 million households – have struggled to keep up. With the average hourly earnings of all employees up by only 25 cents in real terms since 1991 (a paltry two dollars a day), many families are struggling just to make ends meet. More are working and the second earner, in couples with children, has never provided more income support than they do currently. And they are doing so based on need, not greed. So says the eighth annual report released today by the Vanier Institute of the Family, The Current State of Canadian Family Finances 2006, by Roger Sauvé of People Patterns Consulting. “The realities presented in this report should raise alarm bells, especially for policy-makers,” says Clarence Lochhead, Executive Director of the Institute. “The great majority of Canadian families is having a hard time getting by. We need to do much better at helping to create brighter futures for them.” Other important findings include: SECOND EARNERS COME THROUGH IN RECORD FASHION– During the latest year available, the second earner among couples with children brought in $19,500 – the largest-ever dollar contribution. It certainly helped, as couples with only one income had a poverty rate five times greater than that for dual-income families. WOMEN NOT THERE YET – Women working at paid jobs on a full-time, full-year basis still earn 70% of what men do… basically unchanged for over a decade. Women, especially older women, are suffering through a growing share of consumer insolvencies. Female lone-parents have made positive strides, but there is still a long way to go to reduce poverty in these families. DEBT KEEPS CLIMBING – Debt loads now stand at 127% of incomes… another record. Thanks to rising real estate and stock market advances, financial institutions seem to be protected. In contrast, many individuals and families are not and insolvencies remain near record highs. The risk of insolvency is soaring for those 65 and over. They have experienced an eleven-fold increase over the last 15 years. GROWING INEQUALITY – The richest 20% is getting a growing share of the income pie as well as the wealth pie. The rest is either getting a smaller piece or just holding on. The poorest 20% has, on average, only $400 stashed away for a rainy day. This eight annual version of this report was written by Roger Sauvé of People Patterns Consulting for the Vanier Institute of the Family. To read or download the entire report, please select [HTML] or [PDF] format. Roger Sauvé Clarence Lochhead Alan Mirabelli
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