How Long Do People Live in Low-income Neighbourhoods? Evidence for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver

This study uses longitudinal tax data to explore several undocumented aspects regarding the duration of time spent residing in low-income neighbourhoods (residential 'spells'). Although the length of new spells is generally substantial (at least compared with low-income spells), there is quite a lot of variation in this regard. Low-income neighbourhood spells exhibit negative duration dependence, implying that the longer people live in low-income neighbourhoods, the less likely they are to leave.

Length of spell varies substantially by age and city of residence and, to a lesser extent, by family income and family type. Specifically, older individuals remain in low-income neighbourhoods for longer periods of time than younger individuals, as do residents of Toronto and Vancouver (in relation to Montréal). Individuals in low-income families have longer spell lengths than those in higher income families and, among these low-income families, lone-parents and couples with children generally spend more time living in low-income neighbourhoods than childless couples and unattached individuals.