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Description: Low income cut-offs (LICOs) are income thresholds, determined by analysing family expenditure data, below which families will devote a larger share of income to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family would. To reflect differences in the costs of necessities among different community and family sizes, LICOs are defined for five categories of community size and seven of family size.

Low income Measures (LIMs), on the other hand, are strictly relative measures of low income, set at 50% of adjusted median family income. These measures are categorized according to the number of adults and children present in families, reflecting the economies of scale inherent in family size and composition. This publication incorporates a detailed description of the methods used to arrive at both measurements. It also explains how base years are defined and how LICOs are updated using the Consumer Price Index.

Description: The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) conducts an annual labour and income interview in January. The data are collected using computer-assisted interviewing; thus no paper questionnaire is required for data collection. The questions, responses and interview flow for labour and income are documented in another SLID research paper. This document presents the information for the 2007 entry and exit portions of the labour and income interview (reference year 2006).

The entry exit component consists of five separate modules. The entry module is the first set of data collected. It is information collected to update the place of residence, housing conditions and expenses, as well as the household composition. For each person identified in entry, the demographics module collects (or updates) the person's name, date of birth, sex and marital status. Then the relationships module identifies (or updates) the relationship between each respondent and every other household member. The exit module includes questions on who to contact for the next interview and the names, phone numbers and addresses of two contacts to be used only if future tracing of respondents is required. An overview of the tracing component is also included in this document.

Description: The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is a longitudinal survey which collects information related to the standard of living of individuals and their families. By interviewing the same people over a period of six years, changes and the causes of these changes can be monitored.

A preliminary interview of background information is collected for all respondents aged 16 and over, who enter the SLID sample. Preliminary interviews are conducted for new household members during their first labour and income interview after they join the household. A labour and income interview is collected each year for all respondents 16 years of age and over.

The purpose of this document is to present the questions, possible responses and question flows for the 2007 preliminary, labour and income questionnaire (for the 2006 reference year).

Description:

A key family event, the birth of a child also has broader economic implications. If a mother stays home for an extended period after childbirth, her propensity to work in the future may be reduced since a long career interruption can affect job skills and chances of finding a new job. Although the tradition that women withdraw completely from the labour market upon giving birth has long gone, some mothers may still quit their jobs due to work schedule inflexibility, commuting difficulties, or lack of child care services. Although earnings drops were greater for the early 2000s cohorts of mothers than for the mid-1980s cohorts, the earnings recovery process was shorter.

Description:

Since shelter is the biggest expenditure most households make, its affordability can have a big impact on their wellbeing. Measuring affordability involves comparing housing costs with a household's ability to meet them. Up to now, affordability has been measured at a particular time. New information enables a first-ever longitudinal review of housing affordability. This article examines the likelihood of spending 30% or more of household income on shelter, how often this occurs and whether it is occasional or persistent.

Description:

Starting in 1994, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) will follow individuals and families for at least six years, tracking their labour market experiences, changes in income and family circumstances. An initial proposal for the content of SLID, entitled "Content of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics : Discussion Paper", was distributed in February 1992.

That paper served as a background document for consultation with and a review by interested users. The content underwent significant change during this process. Based upon the revised content, a large-scale test of SLID will be conducted in February and May 1993.

The present document outlines the income and wealth content to be tested in May 1993. This document is really a continuation of SLID Research Paper Series 92-01A, which outlines the demographic and labour content used in the January /February 1993 test.

Description: Shelter is the biggest expenditure most households make and its affordability can have an impact on the wellbeing of household members. For this reason, housing affordability is closely watched by a wide range of stakeholders - from housing advocates to policy analysts - interested in the welfare of Canadians. Measuring affordability involves comparing housing costs to a household's ability to meet them. One common measure is the shelter-cost-to-income-ratio (STIR). The 30% level is commonly accepted as the upper limit for affordable housing. Housing affordability is also a critical input to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's core housing need indicator which is used by governments to help design, deliver, fund and evaluate social housing programs. This report, jointly authored by Statistics Canada and CMHC, focuses purely on the dynamics of housing affordability, not on core housing need. It examines the likelihood of spending 30% or more of household income on shelter, how often this occurs, whether it is occasional or persistent, and contrasts those spending 30% or more to those spending less. Cross-sectional estimates indicate that around 19% of Canadians lived in households spending more than the affordability benchmark in 2002. Longitudinally however, less than 9% lived in households that spent above the benchmark in each year between 2002 and 2004, while another 19% lived in households spending above the benchmark for either one or two years. The attributes associated with the highest probabilities of living in a household spending above the affordability benchmark were: living alone, being a female lone parent, renting, being an immigrant, or living in Vancouver or Toronto. In addition, those living in households experiencing some kind of transition between 2002 and 2004 period had a higher probability of exceeding the benchmark at least once during the period. Such transitions included renters with a change in rent-subsidy status, those who changed from owner to renter or vice versa, those who changed family type (for example, marrying or divorcing), and those who moved between cities. Notably, those experiencing these transitions did not exceed the benchmark persistently.

Description:

Challenges associated with the integration of immigrants often extend beyond the first generation. If children of immigrants experience similar impediments to social and economic assimilation as their parents did, then low socioeconomic status may be transmitted between generations. Such scenarios of second-class disadvantage may not apply to Canada. Even if immigrant earnings deficits relative to the native-born are increasing, it does not necessarily mean that children of immigrants will be worse off than the children of Canadian-born parents.

Description:

Prime-aged couples experienced a moderate decline in RPP coverage over the last two decades, as the substantial growth in wives labour market participation and the slight increase in their RPP coverage only partially offset a substantial decline in husbands coverage. On average, retirement savings of families rose over the last two decades, but the distribution became more unequal. To a large extent, the uneven growth in retirement savings mirrors the sharp increase in family earnings inequality since the early 1980s.

Description: The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), introduced in the 1993 reference year, is a longitudinal panel survey of individuals. The purpose of the survey is to measure changes in the economic well-being of individuals and the factors that influence these changes. SLID's sample is divided into two overlapping panels, each six years in length. Longitudinal surveys like SLID are complex due to the dynamic nature of the sample, which in turn is due to the ever-changing composition of households and families over the years. For each reference year, SLID produces two sets of weights: one is representative of the initial population (the longitudinal weights), while the other is representative of the current population (the cross-sectional weights). Since 2002, SLID has been producing a third set of weights which combines two panels that overlap to form a new longitudinal sample. The new weights are referred to as combined longitudinal weights.

For the production of the cross-sectional weights, SLID combines two independent samples and assigns a probability of selection to individuals who joined the sample after the panel was selected. Like cross-sectional weights, longitudinal weights are adjusted for non-response and influential values. In addition, the sample is adjusted to make it representative of the target population. The purpose of this document is to describe SLID's methodology for the longitudinal and cross-sectional weights, as well as to present problems that have been encountered, and solutions that have been proposed. For the purpose of illustration, results for the 2003 reference year are used. The methodology used to produce the combined longitudinal weights will not be presented in this document as there is a complete description in Naud (2004).

Description: Total income by census family type and living arrangement (number, average, median and percentage).

Description: Average and median total income by census family type.

Description: Median total income, economic family types.

Description: Income tax by economic family type (average, share and implicit income tax rate).

Description: Distribution of after-tax income, all family units.

Description: Distribution of after-tax income of individuals.

Description: Average after-tax income, by economic family type.

Description: Upper income limits and income shares of after-tax income quintiles for all family units.

Description: Median after-tax income, economic family types.

Description: Upper income limits and income shares of adjusted after-tax income quintiles for all economic family units.

Description:

The gender gap in hourly wages narrowed between the late 1980s and the late 2000s. This article analyses the narrowing wage gap according to the changing characteristics of men and women in paid work, the changes in pay received for those characteristics, and the extent to which who works in each period affects the results.

Description:

During the recent employment downturn, self-employment was one source of employment growth. This article uses data from the Labour Force Survey to examine the sources and characteristics of the recent increase in self-employment, the dynamics of entry into and exit out of self-employment, and to assess the extent to which those who lost paid jobs early in the recession might account for the subsequent surge in self-employment.

Description:

Finding a job related to one's studies is a key factor for many job seekers. Closely matching individual and job skills can be beneficial for both employees and employers. This study uses the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics to estimate the wage premium for a close job-to-education match among men and women who graduated from universities and community colleges while controlling for field of study and demographic factors.

Description:

Layoffs displace a large number of workers each year, and they are known to have lasting effects on individuals' standard of living. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the risk of layoff between the 1990s and 2000s, seeking to identify the factors associated with this risk. It then examines the duration of jobless spells as well as various characteristics of the lost jobs and subsequent jobs, such as the wage, union coverage and participation in a retirement plan.

Description:

In order to provide a holographic or complete picture of low income, Statistics Canada uses three complementary low income lines: the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs), the Low Income Measures (LIMs) and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). While the first two lines were developed by Statistics Canada, the MBM is based on concepts developed by Human Resources and Skill Development Canada. Though these measures differ from one another, they give a generally consistent picture of low income status over time. None of these measures is the best. Each contributes its own perspective and its own strengths to the study of low income, so that cumulatively, the three provide a better understanding of the phenomenon of low income as a whole. These measures are not measures of poverty, but strictly measures of low income.

Description:

Statistics Canada introduced its Low Income Measure (LIM) in 1991 as a complement to its Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs). The Low Income Measure (LIM) is a dollar threshold that delineates low-income in relation to the median income and different versions of this measure are in wide use internationally. Over the intervening 25 years there have been a number of useful methodological and conceptual developments in the area of low income measurement. To make the Canadian LIM methodology consistent with international norms and practices, a revision of the Statistics Canada LIM methodology appears desirable.

This paper describes three modifications to the LIM that Statistics Canada plans to introduce in 2010: replacing the economic family by household; replacing the current LIM equivalence scale by the square root of household size; and taking household size into consideration in determining the low-income thresholds. The paper explains the rationale behind each modification and demonstrates the impacts the revisions will have on low-income statistics in comparison with those under the existing LIM. Overall the revisions do not have any significant effect on broad historic trends in low-income statistics in Canada. However, compared to the existing LIM the revised LIM produces lower estimates of low-income incidence for certain groups of individuals such as unattached non-elderly individuals.

Description:

This study assesses the existing LICO, LIM, and MBM lines, together with a fixed LIM, by using several distribution sensitive indexes. We found that the low income lines tracked each other well in the long-run. But, in the short-run, they often behaved differently. The same was observed when examining different indexes under the same line. In the long-run, the low income rate, gap, and severity indexes all moved in the same direction. However in the short-run, they sometimes varied in opposite directions, or in the same direction with different magnitudes, suggesting that a single line or index can be misleading in some circumstances.

Description:

International comparisons show that the percentage of both college- and university-educated workers who earn less than half of the median employment income is higher than in Canada than in most, if not all, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Data from Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) show that 18% of university-educated adults and 23% of college-educated adults aged 25 to 64 in Canada earned less than half the national median employment income in 2006.

This study uses descriptive statistics and logistic regression techniques in order to shed light on the type of highly educated worker who is likely to fall into lower employment earnings, taking into account a range of characteristics, including age, sex, field of study, occupation and industry. While all of the workers in the study population had non-zero employment earnings, many of them reported an activity other than working as their main activity for the year, a key factor in explaining their low-earnings situation. Other factors associated with having a college or university education while also having low employment earnings include being self-employed, working in certain occupations or industries and being female.

Description:

This report compares the aggregate income estimates as published by four different statistical programs. The System of National Accounts provides a portrait of economic activity at the macro economic level. The three other programs considered generate data from a micro-economic perspective: two are survey based (Census of Population and Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics) and the third derives all its results from administrative data (Annual Estimates for Census Families and Individuals). A review of the conceptual differences across the sources is followed by a discussion of coverage issues and processing discrepancies that might influence estimates. Aggregate income estimates with adjustments where possible to account for known conceptual differences are compared. Even allowing for statistical variability, some reconciliation issues remain. These are sometimes are explained by the use of different methodologies or data gathering instruments but they sometimes also remain unexplained.

Description:

The student borrowing rate among postsecondary graduates increased between 1995 and 2005, with borrowers differing little from non-borrowers in terms of employment rates and total personal income. However, borrowers were less likely to have savings or investments, or own their own homes. Total debt for borrower and non-borrower graduates age 20 to 29 was similar, while borrowers had lower assets and net worth than non-borrowers.

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This paper describes the collection method and content of the 2002 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) income interview.

Description:

This user's guide provides a detailed description of the CD-ROM Income Trends in Canada (Catalogue no. 13F0022XCB). It also provides a glossary and a description of the major concepts, as well as an overview of the data source, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

Description:

This document outlines the structure of the January 2001 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) labour interview, including question wording, possible responses and the flow of questions.

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This paper presents the questions, possible responses and question flows for the 2001 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) preliminary questionnaire.

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This document presents the information for the Entry Exit portion of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) Labour interview.

Description:

This user's guide provides a detailed description of the CD-ROM Income trends in Canada (Catalogue no. 13F0022XCB). It also provides a glossary and a description of the major concepts, as well as an overview of the data source, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

Description:

This user's guide provides a detailed description of the CD-ROM Income trends in Canada (13F0022XCB). It also provides a glossary, a description of the major concepts as well as an overview of the data source, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

Description:

This document presents the questions, responses and interview flow for the Contact and Demographic portions of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) interviews.

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This paper presents the questions, possible responses and question flows for the 1999 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) preliminary questionnaire.

Description:

This paper outlines the structure of the January 1999 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) labour interview questionnaire, including question wording, possible responses, and flows of questions.