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Dylan Fronda

Income Distribution - The Canadian Encyclopedia - 3 views

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/...income-distribution

shared by Dylan Fronda on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • The earnings of production factors determine what is known as the distribution of "primary" income; wages and salaries alone account for roughly 85% of this income
  • The following variables influence this distribution: skills, education, professional training and experience, working hours, compensatory salary differences, institutional restrictions, discrimination, differences in property wealth (including inherited wealth), opportunity, age and health. Primary income distribution is also modified by government intervention. The government influences income distribution in various ways, eg, through TAXATION, TRANSFER PAYMENTS and the provision of social goods and services.
  • In 1985 families of the lowest quintile accounted for 6.3% of the total income, while those of the highest quintile earned 39.4%. Families of the first quintile had an annual income of less than $17 928 and those of the fifth quintile an income greater than $53 398
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  • Income distribution, as measured by Statistics Canada, has been very stable over the past 30 years; ie, the share of income going to each quintile has varied only slightly. Such stability in income distribution is surprising because, during the same period, Canada experienced considerable economic growth and the average family income, corrected for INFLATION, nearly tripled. Moreover the WELFARE STATE, which came into existence during this time, created a considerable increase in government transfer payments.
  • differences in primary income have become more pronounced because of changes in lifestyle
  • The poor in Canada are defined as those whose standard of living is below a certain level (usually called the "poverty line") and those who have serious difficulties participating actively in the life of society. Defined in this way, poverty is a relative phenomenon that can be measured by income levels.
  • In 1985, 13.1% of Canadian families and 36.6% of unattached individuals (representing 15.9% of the population or 3.9 million persons), were numbered as poor. Poverty is more common in the Atlantic provinces and Québec (see REGIONAL ECONOMICS), among young people and the elderly and in families (usually single-parent families) in which a woman is the head of the household.
  • Since the early 1960s, a universal solution to poverty and income disparities has been proposed regularly in North America: guaranteed annual (or minimum) income (known as "negative income tax" when incorporated into the tax system).
  • This income level is based on the needs of each family (by size) and could be the same as the poverty threshold. Theoretically such an income is now provided through welfare payments. Second, while welfare payments are now taxed at $1 for each $1 earned over and above the welfare payments, a guaranteed annual income would be reduced at a lower tax rate (eg, 50c for each $1 of earnings).
  • Dylan Fronda on 10 Jan 12
     
    Many relevant statistics and solutions offered in this article.
Ben Cohen

Canada Income Inequality: Trickle-Down Tax Policy Is Alive And Well In The True North -... - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.com/...down-tax-policy_n_1120856.html

shared by Ben Cohen on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • NDP leadership hopeful Brian Topp launched the latest salvo in the clash between rich and poor Monday
  • NDP leadership hopeful Brian Topp launched the latest salvo in the clash between rich and poor Monday. Declaring growing income inequality to be today’s central economic issue, Topp detailed a series of proposed tax hikes on corporations and the wealthy aimed at narrowing the earnings gap.
  • Topp's proposals would see a rollback of some $18 billion in tax breaks enacted under successive Liberal and Conservative governments
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  • More than 110 years later, the struggle continues between those who believe lower taxes will lead to increased investment and greater prosperity and those who argue the wealthiest in society should pay for measures to help lift the least fortunate out of poverty. Proponents of low taxes, however, are getting their way in Canada.
  • Those who argue against the tax-cutting agenda point to the fact that wealth in Canada is increasingly concentrated among the wealthiest few
  • The wealthy aren’t just taking more of the growth, they are taking more of the total income pie as well.
  • During the period from the late 1950s to the late 1960s, the richest one per cent took home just 8 per cent of growth in total income. Between 1997 and 2007, before the financial crisis cooled the nation’s hot economy, the richest one per cent of Canadians took home 31.8 per cent of the growth.
  • While those at the top are taking home more than they have in 100 years, real wages are actually falling at the bottom of the income spectrum. Between 1980 and 2006, according to Statistics Canada, median income for the bottom 20 per cent fell by $4000, or around 20 per cent once adjusted for inflation. During the same period, the top 20 per cent saw their median income grow by $12,000, or more than 16 per cent.
  • Yet there is no doubt wealthy Canadians are paying less tax than they did in the past. In 1948, the top marginal tax rate was 80 per cent on incomes over $250,000, or $2.37 million in today’s dollars
  • Taking into account all taxes, Julian argues a lower-middle class secretary can now end up paying a higher percentage of income in taxes than her wealthy boss. “I mean that’s an absurd situation.”
Rebecca Samek

Understanding Income Inequality - 0 views

www.conferenceboard.ca/...income-inequality.aspx

income income inequality in canada

shared by Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12 - Cached
  • In the last few years, income inequality has been in the media spotlight. There is widespread concern around the globe that the “rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.” For example, a recent study by Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez found that “income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression.”
  • Although Canada’s wealth is distributed more equally than in the U.S., Canada’s 12th place ranking suggests it is doing a mediocre job of ensuring income equality. Canada gets a “C” grade on this indicator.
  • Capital income and self-employment income are very unequally distributed, and have become even more so over the past decade. These trends are a major cause of wider income inequalities
  • Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12
     
    The Conference Board of Canada, measures how Canada preforms in economic areas against other countries and gives many statistics to compare.
Rebecca Samek

Canadian Income Inequality - 1 views

www.conferenceboard.ca/...canInequality.aspx

Canada Income Richer Low Income

shared by Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Income inequality in Canada has increased over the past 20 years.
  • The most commonly used measure of income inequality is the Gini index, which is measured on a scale of 0 to 1. Named after the Italian statistician Corrado Gini, the Gini index calculates the extent to which the distribution of income among individuals within a country deviates from an exactly equal distribution
  • Personal income taxes and government transfers (such as social assistance, employment insurance, child benefits, and old age security) have helped to reduce income inequality.
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  • Canada’s tax and transfer system is not reducing income inequality as much as it did prior to 1994
  • Most gains have gone to a very small group of “super-rich.” To understand this, we have to look in more detail at the top quintile group—the top 20 per cent of Canadians. For this we need a different data set, one that provides more information on this group of super-rich
  • Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12
     
    The Conference Board of Canada. This website gives us more graphs and statistics comparing cities and provinces in Canada, as well as addressing why income inequality in Canada is rising and how it affects citizens
Cynthia Zheng

Canada Income Inequality And The Decline Of Unions: Have We Passed A Point Of No Return? - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.ca/...ddle-class-jobs_n_1139136.html

union unemployment decline in income challenges

shared by Cynthia Zheng on 30 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • erosion of unions could be contributing to the decline of the middle class — and, by extension, Canada's growing rich-poor divide
  • "Unions are a major force for greater income equality at the national and local level," says Stephanie Ross, a labour expert at York University. "Through collective bargaining, they basically turn bad jobs into better jobs; into jobs that have a decent wage that can sustain a certain standard of living."
  • According to Craig Riddell, a labour economist at the University of British Columbia, in recent decades, fully 20 per cent of the growth in income inequality among Canadian men can be attributed to the decline in union density.
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  • According to a recent Harvard University study, the disintegration of unions has been a significant factor in the growth in income inequality in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Survey, researchers decomposed the growth in hourly wages inequality for private sector workers from 1973 to 2007, when union membership plummeted from 34 per cent to 8 per cent. They concluded that the decline of organized labour explains a fifth to a third [of] the growth in inequality — an effect comparable to the stratification of wages by education. Though the trend has not been as pronounced in Canada, experts say the fallout has been similar.
  • For better or worse, observers tend to chalk up the decline of unions — and many of the industries where labour was once strongest — to some combination of a changing world economy, competition from cheap imports and the unsustainable nature of big unions themselves. But for those born and raised to work on the line, the implications of this particular aspect of the growing income gap are more than an abstraction. As a gulf opens up between their expectations and reality, their sense of community and personal identity hangs in the balance.
  • "[People] go into the factory when they're 18 or 19, and that's their sacrifice, that's their education. It's going to take a toll on their bodies and they're going to die a little bit younger, but that's going to provide a better life for their kids.
  • Cynthia Zheng on 30 Dec 11
     
    Since unions are able to bring decent conditions to a job such as better wages, improving it greatly, eliminating unions will further increase the divide between rich and poor. Craig Riddell states that 20% of growth in income inequality among Canadian men is because of the lessening of unions. Such numbers are also found by a recent Harvard study and although it is more dramatic in the United States, the effects are also experienced in Canada as well. Many of the factory workers sacrifice education among many things because they have been born and raised to do labour. Now with the decline of unions, whether it be from changing world economy or etc., these individuals are not only loosing job conditions, they are loosing the jobs themselves.
anonymous

Income inequality in America: The 99 percent | The Economist - 0 views

www.economist.com/...income-inequality-america

inequality income unemployment rate

shared by anonymous on 13 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • "Occupy Wall Street" gets a boost from a new report on income distribution
  • OF ALL the many banners being waved around the world by disgruntled protesters from Chile to Australia the one that reads, "We Are the 99%" is the catchiest. It is purposefully vague, but it is also underpinned by some solid economics.
  • A report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) points out that income inequality in America has not risen dramatically over the past 20 years—when the top 1% of earners are excluded. With them, the picture is quite different.
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  • The biggest component of the increase in after-tax income for the top one percent is "business income" as opposed to income from labour or investments
  • Whatever the cause, the data are powerful because they tend to support two prejudices. First, that a system that works well for the very richest
  • Second, that the people at the top have made out like bandits over the past few decades, and that now everyone else must pick up the bill.
Ben Cohen

Toronto News: Canada's income gap growing - thestar.com - 1 views

www.thestar.com/...7--canada-s-income-gap-growing

shared by Ben Cohen on 09 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Income inequality in Canada is widening as the rich get richer and poor and middle-income Canadians lose ground,
  • While the poor are minimally better off in an absolute sense, they are significantly worse off in a relative sense
  • The report notes that between 1976 and 2009, the median income rose by just 5.5 per cent from $45,800 to $48,300.
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  • While the poor didn’t get poorer according to real income levels, they did get poorer in a relative sense, says the report.
  • Between 1976 and 2009 the earnings gap between the lowest 20 per cent and the top 20 per cent of earners grew from $92,300 to $177,500, showing that income growth is being distributed unequally.
Ben Cohen

Canada Income Inequality: How A Growing Earnings Gap Is Raising Home Prices For All Of Us - 2 views

www.huffingtonpost.ca/...ty-house-prices_n_1101655.html

shared by Ben Cohen on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • When it comes to the eye-popping housing boom that has seen house prices in Canada more than double in just 10 years, there are a few common explanations.
  • there is evidence to suggest that income inequality — a trend that has been widening the gulf between Canada’s very rich and everyone else for the last three decades — may also be part of the equation.
  • The bottom line is that the reason why prices are so 'high' is because there is, amongst the buying public, a huge and large income inequality
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  • For what else could be driving the market to clear at these prices, given the hyper-connected infoglut [sic] of a world we live in?
  • When the rich get richer, they bid up the price of things that everybody else wants, too
  • housing prices adjusted for income have moved increasingly “out of their historical range” of three to four times annual median incomes, to ratios of between 4.7 and 11.3. This, combined with swelling mortgage debt, which last year surpassed $1 trillion, has prompted him and others to warn that Canada’s housing market is poised for a painful bust.
Rebecca Samek

'Income inequality,' the new term for disparaging hard work | Full Comment | National Post - 0 views

fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...term-for-disparaging-hard-work

Income Income Inequality Hard Work

shared by Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Toss that $8.3 million average salary into a calculator and voila: “189 times higher than the $44,366″ earned by the average Canadian in 2010.
  • 100 individuals earn an average of $8.3 million to run some of the biggest companies listed on the stock market. That has nothing to do with any income inequality
  • Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12
     
    Article. This author is stating that income inequality is the new term for hard work, my understanding of the article is that hard working people deserve to be earning the amount of money they earn because they worked for it.
Rebecca Samek

Income inequality rising quickly in Canada - The Globe and Mail - 2 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2163938

Canada Income inequality rising

shared by Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • The gap between the rich and the rest is growing ever wider -- with the chasm increasing at a faster pace in Canada than in the United States.
  • Today’s report offers little explanation on why the income gap is growing more rapidly in Canada than elsewhere. Broadly, it says market forces and globalization are increasing disparity, along with institutional shifts such as dwindling unionization rates and stagnating minimum wages.
  • Income inequality, along with corruption, were named as the two most serious challenges facing the world at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.
  • Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12
     
    Article, mentions how Canadian income inequality is rising quickly though there is little explanation why
Dylan Fronda

Perspectives on Labour and Income - Revisiting wealth inequality - 5 views

www.statcan.gc.ca/...9543-eng.htm

shared by Dylan Fronda on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • As numerous studies have shown (for example, Davies 1979 and 1993), wealth is highly concentrated. In 1984, families in the top 10% of the wealth distribution held 52% of aggregate household wealth whereas the bottom 50% held only 5% (Table 1).3 Concentration increased from 1984 to 1999 and again from 1999 to 2005, as the top 10% of families came to own 56% of Canadians' net worth in 1999, and 58% in 2005.4 Over the 1984-to-2005 period, only families in the top 10% increased their share of total wealth.5
  • Wealth inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, displayed a U-shape between 1970 and 2005 (Chart C). It fell sharply between 1970 and 1977, remained fairly constant between 1977 and 1984, but rose substantially in subsequent years. As a result, it was no lower in 2005 than in 1970. Hence, Canada's wealth dispersion has been trending upwards since the mid-1980s. Similar patterns are observed when plotting the share of wealth held by the top 10% of families.
  • While population aging tended to increase average wealth between 1984 and 2005, it also affected the wealth distribution. In the absence of population aging, the share of total wealth held by the top 10% of families would have risen from 52% in 1984 to 60% in 2005 (Table 1). Since the actual figure in 2005 was 58%, it appears that population aging reduced the concentration of wealth at the top of the distribution.11
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  • Although both median and average wealth rose between 1984 and 2005, not all population subgroups enjoyed increases. Young families (major income recipient aged 25 to 34) saw their median wealth fall by 50% or more (Table 4).12 The situation was fairly similar in 1984 and 2005 for families with a major income recipient aged 35 to 54 without a university degree. However, this age group saw a solid 39% rise in median wealth when the major income recipient was a university graduate.
  • Other groups also benefited. Elderly unattached individuals saw their median wealth double, from roughly $48,000 in 1984 to $100,000 in 2005. Couples with children under 18 and those with no children also saw theirs increase—34% and 55% respectively. Growth among couples with children was far from uniform, however. For young couples, median wealth fell sharply between 1984 and 1999, rebounding between 1999 and 2005, although not to its 1984 level (Table 5).13 In contrast, for those aged 45 to 54, median wealth rose steadily, climbing 45% between 1984 and 2005.
  • Lone-parent families and non-elderly unattached individuals had low median and average wealth, reflecting at least partially the absence of a second earner. For these two groups, median wealth was no higher than $7,000 in 1999. This reflects the lack of assets these families have at their disposal to lessen the impact of unexpected expenses or earnings disruptions.
  • During this period, the distribution of wealth, excluding the value of employer-sponsored pension plans, has become more unequal—and would have become even more unequal in the absence of population aging. The gap between families in the bottom and top 20% of the wealth distribution rose mainly because the top 20% experienced a substantial increase in home equity and also allocated more of their financial assets to RRSP and LIRA holdings.
  • From an accounting view, two factors were mainly responsible for the widening gap between families in the bottom and top fifths of the wealth distribution: home equity and holdings in RRSPs and locked-in retirement accounts (LIRAs). The net value of the principal residence stagnated among families in the bottom fifth, but rose about $155,000 among those in the top fifth.16 Similarly, RRSP and LIRA holdings changed very little in the former group while increasing roughly $100,000 in the latter.
  • Since conclusions about the influence of specific explanatory variables depend on the order in which these variables are entered, alternative specifications are considered. Rather than simply controlling for inheritances alone, they can be added to a specification that already includes a large set of controls: family type, province of residence, age and education of the major income recipient, and an indicator of work limitation. When this is done, the fraction of the wealth gap explained increases from about 7% to over 10%.
  • Dylan Fronda on 10 Jan 12
     
    Many supporting statistics that directly relate to wealth distribution in Canada.
Rebecca Samek

Canada Income Inequality: Which Canadian Cities Are Seeing The Fastest Ghettoization? - 1 views

www.huffingtonpost.ca/...s-ghettoization_n_1128683.html

Canada Income Ghettoization Rich vs Poor

shared by Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Calgary has seen a nearly 90 per cent increase in the wealth difference between its richest and poorest neighbourhoods over the past quarter century, making the city a poster boy for growing economic segregation
  • Canada's major cities, the poorest neighbourhoods saw income declines between 1980 and 2005, while the wealthiest neighbourhoods saw even faster income growth.
  • richest 10 per cent of neighbourhoods are now 69 per cent wealthier than the poorest 10 per cent
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Toronto second place after Calgary.
  • Rebecca Samek on 08 Jan 12
     
    Article. The "Ghettoization" of Canadian cities, we see how the poor are declining and the rich are increasing by looking at 10 top Canadian cities
Dylan Fronda

The All-Canadian Wealth Test | MoneySense - 2 views

www.moneysense.ca/...the-all-canadian-wealth-test

shared by Dylan Fronda on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • The good news — and, yes, there is good news — is that the average household is better off today than it was nine years ago when Canada was zooming along at the peak of the dotcom boom. Over the past year, the typical person has lost about a tenth of his or her wealth. But the average Canadian household is still 7% richer in real terms in grim 2009 than it was in bubbly 2000. That’s an amazing — and encouraging — fact. Despite the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, prosperity still appears to be inching ahead.
  • Problem is, our prosperity comes with warning stickers. One catch is that our increase in average wealth has been accompanied by an increase in inequality. While the rich are definitely growing richer, it’s not clear that middle- or working-class Canadians are any wealthier than they were a decade ago.
  • A single bookkeeper who makes $52,000 a year ranks among the top 20% of unattached earners. Two married school teachers who together earn $120,000 a year qualify as a top-quintile family.
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  • The tables show the average (not the minimum) earnings for each quintile of society. As you can see, Alberta and Ontario are the highest-earning provinces, while Newfoundland and PEI are the lowest. The average top-quintile family in Alberta earns a joint income of $233,800; the average top-quintile family in PEI makes only $136,300.
  • Women make, on average, about two-thirds of what men do.
  • The narrower gap for the younger age groups suggests that women are now placing a higher priority on careers than did previous generations.
  • There is no sign that the disparities among regions and between sexes are going to end anytime soon. If anything, Canada’s income distribution is becoming even more skewed. The top 20% of all households collect nearly half of all the income generated in Canada. The poorest 20% of households get only 4%. Inequality between the rich and poor has been slowly growing for the past two decades and stands at record levels.
  • While the rich are gaining ground and the poor are losing ground, the middle is only inching ahead.
  • While incomes are far from equal, wealth is even more unbalanced. The richest 20% of Canadian households control about 69% of the wealth in Canada. The next quintile down possesses a further 20% of our national net worth.
  • Not much is left over for other people. The bottom 60% of households control only 11% of Canada’s wealth. In fact, the bottom fifth of the population possess no wealth and actually owe a few thousand dollars more than they own.
  • First, it helps to be born male. Households in which a man is the primary earner have net worths that are $36,000 above the overall median for all households of all typesof $170,000.
  • A household headed by someone under 35 typically has a net worth that is $145,000 below the median. A household headed by someone 55 to 64 usually has wealth that is $250,000 above the median.
  • A household headed by someone with a university degree or certificate typically has net worth that is $90,000 greater than the median.
iris qiu

Canadian household debt hits $100,000. Now what? - How to Finance Blog | How to Budget ... - 0 views

blog.yourmoney.ca/...canadian-household-debt.html

consumer debt zhonhuiQIU

shared by iris qiu on 11 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • recent report. Canadians also owe far more then they earn. The report, released by the Vanier Institute of the Family last month, says the debt-to-income ratio is a record 150%. That means for every $1,000 in after-tax income a Canadian family earns, they now owe $1,500.
  • In previous reports tracking the health of Canadian family finances, the institute found that the debt-to-income ratio has been steadily climbing over the past 20 years. In 1990, the average family debt reached $56,800 with a debt-to-income ratio of 93%, making the current $100,000 figure a substantial increase of 78% over the past two decades.
  • Bottom Line: Mortgages account for two-thirds of Canadian household debt and are one of the biggest strains on the family budget. Using your prepayment privileges and getting on an accelerated bi-weekly payment plan are two strategies that could help you pay down your mortgage sooner. See 5 Ways to get mortgage-free faster for the details.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • 1. Mortgages.
  • 2. Consumer credit and loans.
  • Bottom Line: Paying with plastic can be a costly habit, especially if you're only paying the minimum every month. Get savvy about the new credit card rules, increase your minimum monthly payment to decrease your interest charges, and don't get trapped by these 5 Costly credit card tricks. 3. We're not saving.
  • Bottom Line: Spending ten minutes today could save you over $1,000 this year, and also try any of these 50 Ways to save $1000 a year if you need a bucket list of ideas to get your savings started. Just be sure to stick your money in a Tax-Free Savings Account to keep the Tax Man from biting into your returns.
iris qiu

Household debt loads inch higher: StatsCan - Business - CBC News - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...debt-canada-quarterly.html

consumer debt ZhonghuiQIU

shared by iris qiu on 11 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • The total amount of debt that Canadians hold in relation to their incomes continued to inch higher in the first quarter, Statistics Canada data revealed Monday.
  • The debt-to-income level ticked almost a full percentage point higher to 147.3 per cent in the January to March period, the agency said. The figure is a measure of total debt load — including mortgage and consumer debt — versus disposable income.
  • A decline in durable goods spending pushed consumer credit lower, but stable borrowing costs as well as higher housing resale and renovation activities pushed mortgage debt higher, the agency said.
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  • The debt loads of Canadians increased in the first quarter, but at the same time, their net worth also went up. Household net worth increased by one per cent to $6.3 trillion. That comes on the heels of a 2.4 per cent increase in the previous quarter.
  • Strong gains in the housing market explains much of the increase, but financial assets also appreciated. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 5.1 per cent during the quarter.
anonymous

Occupy protestors say it is 99% v 1%. Are they right? | News | guardian.co.uk - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...occupy-protests-data-video

Wealth Distribution Average Income National Wealth

shared by anonymous on 13 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Is it really 99% v 1%? It has become the rallying cry of the Occupy Wall Street movement - and the Occupy protests around the world. But is it true?
  • When Americans are asked how US wealth is distributed, they think the very richest fifth should own up to 40% of the national wealth - and that includes 90% of Republicans surveyed. In fact, that richest group owns 85% of the nation's wealth. Those surveyed also thought the bottom 120 million people should own around 10% of the national wealth. The reality: 0.3%
  • In 2010, the average American earned $26,487 - down over $2,000 in real terms on 2006. That's a drop of 5.27%, including inflation. If you were poor it's been an even bigger drop - the 24 million least wealthy households in America saw their average income go down by 10% From $12,276 in 2006 to $11,034 in 2010
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • If you were super rich it went down too. The 400 wealthiest American households lost around 4%, including inflation Between 2006 and 2008
  • Part of the reason average Americans have been hit so hard is where their wealth comes from. Before the crash, middle-class Americans had 65% of their wealth tied up in their house.. But the richest 1% of the population kept most of their wealth in stocks and shares and business. So, when house prices went south, many Americans found their wealth disappearing too.
  • Now, one in every seven Americans lives below the poverty line - that's a record 46.2 million people
  • One in six Americans have no health insurance - 50 million people
  • Of every 17 Americans, at least one will be earning below the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour
  • 14.5% of Americans households are defined as "food insecure". That means for every seven households, one will have trouble putting enough food on the table
  • What about taxes? The 400 wealthiest households paid $19.6bn in taxes in 2008 - the latest year we have data. That's 1.9% of all the income tax the IRS collects
  • Is it the 99% v the 1% What do you think?
iris qiu

Canada's household debt climbs amid stagnant incomes - 0 views

digitaljournal.com/316038

shared by iris qiu on 11 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Canadian households are drowning in debt. According to a new report released Tuesday, Canada's household debt has reached a record high in part to stagnant income and individuals taking on more debt.
  • Much of Canada’s consumer debt stems from stagnant income and those piling on debt. Debt burdens have exceeded the levels in the United States and the United Kingdom. Mortgage credit rose to $1 trillion, while consumer debt increased to $448 billion.
  • Furthermore, the report suggested that household net worth in the third quarter declined by 2.1 percent, which is the second straight decrease. Per capita household stands at $180,100, down from $184,700.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Overall government net debt is up to $795 billion from $772 billion in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product was up from 46.3 percent in the last quarter to 46.9 percent in the third.
  • This report comes as a new study suggests that the employment climate is set to receive a boost. A Manpower survey shows that job conditions could improve, despite a weaker consumer base and business confidence.
dayuloveme

Credit card debt falls in 2011 - Business - CBC News - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...x-credit-card-debt-canada.html

credit card debt

shared by dayuloveme on 11 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Despite that improvement and a reduction in consumer bankruptcies last year, overall debt continues to rise — though much more slowly than before.
  • As the economy slows and consumers become more nervous about the future, Canadians are curbing spending and paying down some debts.
  • But he said given that household debt-to-income levels sit at an historic 150 per cent — that means mortgage and other debts are 1.5 times a Canadian household's average income — it would be risky for borrowing to rise further.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • He said if debt-to-income ratios flatline and Canada's economy grows, debt levels will naturally come down.
  • They began to take advantage of low interest rates sooner to take on more mortgage and consumer debt, which helped stabilize the Canadian housing market and domestic spending.
  • dayuloveme on 11 Jan 12
     
    The improvement of delinquency.
dayuloveme

Record high household debt in Canada triggers alarm - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2269210

household debt canada alarm

shared by dayuloveme on 11 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Canadians have set a new record for household debt, a sign that many families are leaving themselves vulnerable to an economic shock. The debt burden of Canadian households has surpassed levels of both the United States and the United Kingdom
  • Roughly one in 10 Canadians is in a vulnerable financial position, Mr. Carney said – meaning that the cost of servicing their debt consumes more than 40 per cent of their income – “and that, historically, is where people start to have issues in making their debt service payments.”
  • Canada’s economy is faring relatively better than its peers, corporate balance sheets are strong and its banking system is in far better shape. The risk is that strained debt levels put cracks in the system.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • It’s particularly hard at this time of year, when pressures to spend are greater. “It’s the holidays – and you want to get your family presents, and people want to travel with you and go on trips. These are things you’re trying to make happen, or trying to back out of. It does weigh on you.”
  • dayuloveme on 11 Jan 12
     
    Canadians' debt is much more than their income. Though Canada's economy is much better than its peers, but the debt still make the country in risk.
calvin yue

Housing prices could fall 25%, research firm warns | Real Estate | News | Financial Post - 0 views

business.financialpost.com/...ld-fall-25-research-firm-warns

housing prices

shared by calvin yue on 08 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Canada’s housing market is a bubble ready to burst as valuations have “lost touch with fundamentals” and household debt is at a record high
  • The independent research firm’s report says it fears that house prices could fall by as much as 25% over the next three years.
  • House prices have been growing rapidly for nearly a decade now and it has reached the point where housing is so overvalued relative to incomes that a downward correction seems unavoidable
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Relative to disposable income per capita, our calculations suggest that housing is around 25% overvalued, which is approaching the level of excess that the U.S. market reached at its peak in 2006.”
  • Capital Economics says signs of over-building are evident as unoccupied housing units are at historically high levels, similar to 1994-95 when housing construction was last mired in a slump.
  • Another sign of over-building, or perhaps over-consumption, is the sharp increases in the home ownership rate over the last 10 years,”
  • This run-up has coincided with a housing price boom fuelled by rising financial leverage.
  • Our concern is that these excesses will eventually lead to a house-price correction, which would greatly impact household wealth, consumer confidence and the economic recovery
  • calvin yue on 08 Jan 12
     
    Canada's housing market is becoming a bubble and ready to burst.The evidents could be over-building, or perhaps over-consumption.
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