Study: Who experiences persistent low income? A study of various demographic groups from 2016 to 2022
Released: 2026-02-04
From 2016 to 2022, 9% of tax filers aged 15 and older experienced persistent low income, meaning they fell under the low-income measure after tax (LIM-AT) for at least four of the seven years in the study period.
The LIM-AT provides a relative measure of low income, as it is defined as one-half of the median adjusted income of all tax filers and their family members. Unlike the Market Basket Measure, which is the official measure of poverty in Canada, the LIM-AT does not account for geography or regional price variations.
A new study released today, entitled "Who experiences persistent low income? A study of various demographic groups from 2016 to 2022," uses data from the 2016 Census of Population and the Longitudinal Administrative Databank to examine patterns in persistence of low-income rates over time for various population groups.
Certain groups of tax filers more likely to have persistent low income from 2016 to 2022
People in female lone-parent families (23%), people without a high school diploma (21%), and people who reported they always had limitations in their daily activities (18%) were more at risk of low-income persistence, compared to the overall population (9%).
In addition, recent immigrants (17%) were more than twice as likely to have persistent low income in the study period as non-immigrants (8%), while tax filers in racialized groups (14%) were twice as likely to have persistent low income as non-racialized, non-Indigenous tax filers (7%).
High education is associated with lower rates of low-income persistence
Tax filers without a high school diploma were three times more likely to have low income in 2016 than those with a university degree, and they were five times more likely to have persistent low income during the period from 2016 to 2022.
When comparing the likelihood of low-income persistence across education levels for various groups, higher education levels were associated with lower rates of low-income persistence. For example, the gap in low-income persistence between female lone-parent families and couples with children was wider for those without a high school diploma (24 percentage points) than for those with a university degree (7 percentage points).
Certain groups more likely than others to fall back under the low-income threshold after exiting low income
This study also looked at a snapshot of movements in and out of low income in the first few years of the study period. Among tax filers who were in low income in 2016, 30% exited low income in 2017.
However, some tax filers were less likely to exit low income in 2017, including people who did not have a high school diploma (21%, compared to 38% for those with a university degree) or who always had limitations in their daily activities (21%, compared to 34% for those with no such limitations).
Of those who exited low income in 2017, 20% re-entered low income in 2018. Among that group, one in five remained in low income for the remainder of the study period. People in the population groups mentioned above were also more likely to re-enter in 2018 if they had exited low-income in 2017 and were less likely to exit low income again during the study period.
Note to readers
Results in this study are based on the 2016 Census of Population and the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD). The LAD is a random 20% sample of the T1 Family File, a cross-sectional file of all individuals who file taxes and members of their families. The dataset covering 2016 to 2022 contains approximately 1.1 million records, limited to individuals for whom tax information was available for all seven years.
The purpose of this study was to document entry into and exit from low income and persistence of low income. To achieve this, longitudinal data were needed and data from the LAD were used. A limitation of LAD is that the only indicator of low-income available is the low-income measure, after tax (LIM-AT). LIM-AT does not account for geography or regional prices, unlike the Market Basket Measure (MBM).
Low income: In this study, low income is measured using the LIM-AT. It is calculated as half of the median adjusted income of all tax filers and their family members. Note that the LIM-AT does not account for geography or regional prices, unlike the MBM. It also does not capture other aspects of poverty, such as savings and assets or deprivation.
Persistent low income: Researchers have taken various approaches to quantifying the persistence of low income. For a given period, it can be defined as spending more than half of that period under the low-income threshold—in this case, four or more of the seven years from 2016 to 2022.
Products
The article entitled "Who experiences persistent low income? A study of various demographic groups from 2016 to 2022" is now available in Insights on Canadian Society (75-006-X).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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