Financial Vulnerability of Canadians with the Lowest Incomes


Book Description

"This infographic uses data from the 2022 Portrait of Canadian Society Survey to examine the impact of rising inflation on the lowest income Canadians. It also uses multiple pre-pandemic data sources to present personal characteristics, family income, net worth levels and poverty rate of Canadians in the bottom income quintile"--Provided by publisher.




Financial Vulnerability in Canada


Book Description

This book examines financial vulnerability: a state in which a person or household cannot absorb any substantial spending or negative income shock without substantial financial and ultimately broader harm such as job loss, emotional harm, or mental illness. The focus of the book is on the experiences of low- income and modest income Canadian families – families which, by virtue of being in the lower income brackets, are particularly at risk of experiencing financial hardship. Looking at vulnerability from a conceptual and empirical lens, this book offers a framework to better understand the complex and interdependent ways in which financial vulnerability emerge and can be addressed. By locating its analysis of individual and household financial management in wider community, cultural, and economic contexts, this book seeks to offer holistic policy recommendations to reduce financial vulnerability, with implications that go beyond Canada and to other developed countries.




Basic Income for Canadians


Book Description

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of providing a basic income to everyone in Canada who needs it was already gaining broad support. Then, in response to a crisis that threatened to put millions out of work, the federal government implemented new measures which constituted Canada?s largest ever experiment with a basic income for almost everyone. In this new and revised edition, Evelyn L. Forget offers a clear-eyed look at how these emergency measures could be transformed into a program that ensures an adequate basic income for every Canadian. Forget details what we can learn from earlier basic income experiments in Canada and internationally. She weighs the options, investigates whether Canadians can afford a permanent basic income program and describes how it could best be implemented across the country. This accessible book offers everything a reader needs to decide if a basic income program is the right follow-up to the short-term government response to COVID-19.







Rising Prices and the Impact on the Most Financially Vulnerable


Book Description

"This study uses the 2022 Portrait of Canadian Society Survey to examine the impact of rising inflation on the lowest income Canadians. Using multiple pre-pandemic data sources, the study takes a closer look at people living in the bottom family income quintile, examining their family income, debt and assets levels, as well as some indicators of economic hardship"--Overview of the study, page 1.




Assessing the financial vulnerability of households across Canadian regions


Book Description

For measure of debt serviceability and the share of financially- one, the quality of this data is reliant on the accuracy of vulnerable households, combined, have been allocated 40% the responses. [...] However, over the past two years, vulnerability has we've provided an "adjusted" index reading that builds in headed higher right across the board, and for the majority of the impact of an increase in the Bank of Canada's overnight regions, increases in the index began to accelerate in 2007. [...] The regions to-income ratios have been the major catalysts driving up that are most affected by this adjustment are those that have vulnerability - the debt-to-income ratio has followed an the highest share of individuals at, or near, a position of upward track in all regions since the mid-part of the 2000s, financial stress (i.e., 40% debt service ratio). [...] On the plus side, Note: micro-data data differs from national aggregates due to methodological rapidly-appreciating home prices in the province has left the differences debt-to-asset ratio - a metric of household leverage - below reflecting in large part the strength of housing markets and the Canadian average. [...] While the level of the index is not significantly Debt-service ratios have been falling and remain in a higher than third place Ontario, its rate of increase since comfortable range - despite rising indebtedness, the falling 2007 has been unrivalled across the country, pulling the cost of borrowing has been pulling down the share of income province closer to first place British Columbia.




Work Interruptions and Financial Vulnerability


Book Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive work interruptions in Canada and several other countries since mid-March 2020. The resulting economic lockdown has raised concerns about the ability of Canadian families to meet their financial obligations and essential needs. This article focuses on families who rely primarily on earnings - wages and salaries and self-employment income - to maintain their living standards.




This is Nation Building in the 21st Century


Book Description

Expand our knowledge of household financial vulnerability and health in Canada 5. Task Statistics Canada with the development of a national program to monitor and report regularly on the financial inclusion and health of Canadian households and any related disparities among Canadians and the causes of such disparities. [...] Expand the role and resources of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to Include financial empowerment of low-income and other vulnerable people to make informed financial decisions by providing tools and skill building opportunities directly and through community service entities, and by promoting a more inclusive and fair financial marketplace. [...] Make the duty to act in the best interest of the customer at all times, to the best ability of the bank and its employees, a core principle of the Consumer Protection Framework in the Bank Act. [...] We need more effective ways to monitor and assess the actual financial health of households and the challenges they are facing, and to design more dynamic and sustained processes that bring key stakeholders from all sectors together and effectively employ evidence, dialogue and collaboration to tackle key questions. [...] We therefore recommend that: 5. The government should task Statistics Canada with the development of a national program to monitor and report regularly on the financial inclusion and health of Canadian households and any related disparities among Canadians and the causes of such disparities.




Sizing Up the Burden of Unemployment in Canada, Part III


Book Description

At times of high and prolonged unemployment, most workers and their families experience an income loss which can be buffered by other means. In contrast, a significant minority are far more vulnerable to low income status. When such workers are unattached individuals, heads of single-parent families, or heads of families with nobody else employed, their financial vulnerability to unemployment is even greater. This document examines income protection schemes which take into consideration families in this significant minority, and not just individuals.




Indebtedness and Wealth Among Canadian Households


Book Description

This article in the Economic Insights series examines data on the financial conditions of Canadian households, focusing on recent trends related to indebtedness, income growth, and net worth. Aggregate leverage indicators are examined for the household sector as a whole, followed by a more detailed analysis of households with different income profiles in selected urban areas. This study highlights the extent to which indebtedness and household wealth differ across the country, along with the financial vulnerabilities facing low income households.