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Description: This study uses administrative tax data and the Survey of Financial Security to explore trends in the number and characteristics of high-income Canadians, as well as their wealth and effective income tax rates, from 1982 to 2004. The paper uses a range of thresholds to delineate high income and emphasizes statistics on the top 5%, 1%, 0.1% and 0.01% of tax filers.

The study found that an individual income of $89,000 was needed to be counted among the top 5% if income recipients in 2004. A family income of $154,000 would place one in the top 5% of families. The growth in incomes at the high end has been quite rapid while incomes of the majority of the population remained stable. Compared with the U.S., Canada had significantly fewer high-income recipients in 2004, and their incomes were considerably less. Higher-income individuals tend to be middle aged married males that live in the larger urban centres. While women have made up a larger portion on the top 5% of tax filers since 1982, they have not made gains in the very highest income groups. High income Canadians have roughly the same share of total wealth as they do of total income.

High income Canadians, in line with an increasing share of total income, have been paying an increasing share of total personal income taxes. Their share of total income increased from 21% to 25% between 1992 and 2004 while their share of income taxes paid increased from 30% to 36%. At the same time their effective tax rate dropped from 29% to 27%. Thus despite lower tax rates the increase in incomes was large enough, when combined with the progressive tax system, to result in an increased share of total taxes paid by high income Canadians. There is considerable heterogeneity in effective tax rates at the individual level with some high income individuals facing an effective tax rate of over 45%, while some pay as little as 10%. The proportion of tax filers, across the income distribution, who pay zero taxes decreased between 1992 and 2004.

Description: This research examines the characteristics of non-elderly unattached Canadians who experience persistent low income and their transition patterns into and out of low income. It also examines the factors associated with increased risk of persistent low income.

The study found that unattached individuals aged 45 to 64, the activity limited, the not employed, visible minorities, and high school leavers all faced a higher rate of the most persistent low income (6 years out 6). Family formation reduced the incidence and persistence of low income.

Statistical analyses showed that among working-aged unattached individuals, those who faced the greatest risks of the most persistent low income included the unemployed and those who had reported limitations to work. Individuals also at great risk were those who had not completed high school, those who were aged 45 to 64, or those whose unattached status remained unchanged over the six-year study period.

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 2006 preliminary, labour and income questionnaire (for the 2005 reference year).

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 there are no paper questionnaires 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 2006 entry and exit portions of the labour and income interview (for the 2005 reference year).

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 initiated in 1993. The survey was designed to measure changes in the economic well-being of Canadians as well as the factors affecting these changes.

Sample surveys are subject to errors. As with all surveys conducted at Statistics Canada, considerable time and effort is taken to control such errors at every stage of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. Nonetheless errors do occur. It is the policy at Statistics Canada to furnish users with measures of data quality so that the user is able to interpret the data properly. This report summarizes a set of quality measures that has been produced in an attempt to describe the overall quality of SLID data. Among the measures included in the report are sample composition and attrition rates, sampling errors, coverage errors in the form of slippage rates, response rates, tax permission and tax linkage rates, and imputation rates.

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:

Discussions related to work hours are typically driven by cross-sectional studies. Much less is known about the longitudinal perspective and the persistence of long hours or periods of underemployment. The annual hours of employees are examined over a five-year period to determine what proportion experience variable work years and how their well-being is affected.

Description:

The GST (goods and services tax) provided $30.6 billion to the federal government in 2003. Of this, $2.9 billion was paid back as a credit to taxfilers aged 16 and older based on their income. How many individuals receive the GST credit, and who are they? Does this credit help to redistribute income?

Description:

Over the last four decades, the dramatic increase in dual-earner couples has also engendered an increase in wives as primary breadwinners. These women tend to be older and more educated than women who are secondary earners, and they are more frequently found in managerial and professional occupations. The article examines the earnings and characteristics of primary- and secondary-earner spouses.

Description:

This paper summarizes the data available from SLID on housing characteristics and shelter costs, with a special focus on the imputation methods used for this data. From 1994 to 2001, the survey covered only a few housing characteristics, primarily ownership status and dwelling type. In 2002, with the start of sponsorship from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), several other characteristics and detailed shelter costs were added to the survey. Several imputation methods were also introduced at that time, in order to replace missing values due to survey non-response and to provide utility costs, which contribute to total shelter costs. These methods take advantage of SLID's longitudinal design and also use data from other sources such as the Labour Force Survey and the Census. In June 2006, further improvements in the imputation methods were introduced for 2004 and applied to past years in a historical revision. This report also documents that revision.

Description: Average and share by market, total and after-tax income, all family units.

Description: Average and median income for selected income concepts.

Description: Average and share of income by income concept and after-tax quintiles.

Description: Government transfers and income tax (average and share).

Description: Gini coefficients of market, total and after-tax income.

Description: Market, total and after-tax income of individuals, adjusted and unadjusted income.

Description: Market, total and after-tax income of individuals, adjusted (Average and income share).

Description: Government transfers and income tax of individuals, adjusted.

Description: Gini coefficients of adjusted market, total and after-tax income by economic family type.

Description: Low income cut-offs before and after tax by community size, one person, 2011 constant dollars.

Description:

This fact sheet provides information on the proportion of the school-age population - defined as children and youth aged 5 to 24 - living in low-income circumstances, including the duration of low-income spells, using data from Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). The percentage of children in low-income is calculated based on Statistics Canada's low income cut-offs (LICOs), using data on family income after government benefits are received and after federal and provincial taxes are paid.

Description:

Like the United States and the United Kingdom, Canada has a higher proportion of low-paid jobs than Australia and most countries in continental Europe. While the differences with continental Europe highlight different approaches to the labour market, the much lower rate of low-paid work in Australia is more puzzling since that country shares many similarities with Canada. Differences in wage-setting mechanisms appear to play a role in explaining the disparity in rates of low-paid jobs.

Description:

The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) was established to provide low-income seniors with extra income. While simplification of the GIS application process and outreach efforts have increased take-up rates, some seniors are still missing out. This update explores the characteristics of eligible non-recipients.

Description:

Women's labour market participation has increased substantially over recent decades, creating challenges for families in balancing work-life responsibilities. The examination of family work patterns revealed significant differences in annual hours of work between families with and those without children.

Description:

A sizeable earnings gap exists between Canadian women with children and those without. Women with children earned, on average, 12% less than women without children, and the gap increased with the number of children. Lone mothers, mothers with long career interruptions, and mothers with at least some postsecondary education experienced greater losses than married mothers, mothers with no or short career interruptions, and mothers with no more than a high school education.

Description: Longitudinal data show that disability can be temporary or episodic. Between 1999 and 2004, only 13% of those reporting a disability were affected for the entire 6 years. The longer the disability period, the more likely the individuals were to have less education, be women, be older, live alone and work fewer hours per year. Moreover, the effects of a disability were often felt outside the actual period of the disability.

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:

Traditional age-earnings profiles, based on cross-sectional data, typically follow an inverted U-shaped pattern with annual earnings peaking around middle age. With longitudinal data on hourly earnings, the picture changes considerably.

Description:

Retirement is a process rather than a discrete event. Many older workers who start receiving a pension stay in the labour market in some capacity for roughly two to three years before they completely cease employment. And many who quit paid work at one point subsequently return to the labour market, especially in the first year after leaving their career job. For a substantial proportion of older workers, this 'bridge employment appears to be a choice rather than a necessity.

Description:

The general view is that teenage childbearing will have long-term negative effects on the well-being of the mother-- she may have more difficulty completing high school, which means she may be less likely to pursue postsecondary education and acquire skills for better jobs. Since low-skilled jobs tend to pay less, teenage mothers would have a higher likelihood of living in low income. This study looks at women aged 30 to 39 to determine whether teenage childbearing is related to lower long-term socioeconomic characteristics, with the focus on educational attainment, labour force participation, and living in low income.

Description:

In May 2004 the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) collected data on income from both its third and fourth panels. Panel 3 was in its fifth year of collection and panel 4 was in its second year.

Respondents had the option of answering income questions in an interview, or of giving permission to Statistics Canada to allow SLID to use the information on their income tax return.

The purpose of this document is to present the questions, possible responses and question flows for the 2004 Income questionnaire (for the 2003 reference year).

Description:

This paper describes the changes made to the structure of geography information on SLID from reference year 1999 onwards. It goes into reasons for changing to the 2001 Census-based geography, shows how the overlap between the 1991 and 2001 Census-based concepts are handled, provides detail on how the geographic concepts are implemented, discusses a new imputation procedure and finishes with an illustration of the impact of these changes on selected tables.

Description:

This document presents information about the entry-exit portion of the annual labour and the income interviews of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

Description:

This document outlines the structure of the January 2003 labour interview of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), including question wording, possible responses and flows of questions.

Description:

This paper describes the collection method and content of the 2003 income interview of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). Respondents also had the option of giving Statistics Canada permission to use the information on their income tax return.

Description:

This document presents the questions, possible responses and question flows for the 2003 preliminary questionnaire of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

Description:

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

Description:

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

Description:

This document presents the questions, question flows and possible responses for the 2002 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) preliminary questionnaire.

Description:

This document outlines the structure of the January 2002 Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) labour interview. It includes the wording of questions, the flow of questions and possible responses.