Household spending and savings

Description: Caring for children is among the key functions of families and the larger society. In Canada, the question of affordability issues for families with children has become an increasingly important area of public policy. Also, information on the monetary cost of meeting children’s needs for food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education is important for family planning and budgeting decisions made by people raising children.

Description: This infographic uses data from the Survey of Household Spending, 2014 to 2017 to produce estimates of Canadian household expenditures on a child based on family size and income group.

Description: Although several national surveys have collected information on child care expenses from the parent perspective, information on the amount parents pay out of pocket per child has been limited. More recent information is necessary given the parameters of the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2017) to work towards a shared vision of high-quality, accessible, flexible, inclusive and affordable child care in Canada. This study provides recent estimates of how much parents in Canada report paying for their 0- to 5-year-old child’s main child care arrangement in early 2022.

Description: Increases in grocery prices have outpaced headline consumer inflation since late 2021. While the pace of food inflation has eased recently, prices for many grocery items continue to rise month after month. This article examines data from recent business and household surveys on how Canadians have been adjusting to higher food prices.

Description: Data on long-form data quality indicators for 2021 Census expenditures content, Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations and census subdivisions.

Description: Data on long-form data quality indicators for 2021 Census expenditures content, Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions.

Description: Percentage of households that made purchases to feed, shelter or watch birds, by type of dwelling. The data is from the Households and the environment survey.

Description: Percentage of households that made purchases to feed, shelter or watch birds. The data is from the Households and the environment survey.

Description: Percentage of households that made purchases to feed, shelter or watch birds, by household income. The data is from the Households and the environment survey.

Description:

Data collected by the Census of Population are used to create different household indicators to help governments and organizations assess housing needs in Canada. This video focuses on six key household indicators that help governments and organizations manage the state of housing in Canada, namely, shelter costs, shelter-cost-to-income ratio, housing adequacy, housing suitability, housing affordability and core housing need.

Description:

This table contains 560 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, tobacco and alcoholic beverages (10 items: Total tobacco products and alcoholic beverages; Tobacco products and smokers' supplies; Cigarettes, cigars and tobacco; Cigarettes; ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 336 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, games of chance (6 items: Games of chance (net of winnings); Government-run lotteries; Casinos, slot machines, and video lottery terminals; Bingos; ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 1120 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, miscellaneous (legal, financial) (20 items: Total miscellaneous expenditures; Expenses on other property owned; Legal services not related to dwellings; Financial services; ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 280 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, personal taxes (5 items: Personal taxes (net of refunds); Income tax on reference year income; Income tax on income received before reference year; Other personal taxes (for example, gift tax); ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 448 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, insurance and pensions (8 items: Total personal insurance payments and pension contributions; Life insurance premiums; Annuity contracts and transfers to Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs); Employment insurance premiums; ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 448 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, gifts, alimony and charitable contributions (8 items: Total gifts of money and contributions; Money and support payments; Alimony and child support; Gifts of money and support payments (excluding alimony and child support) to persons living inside Canada; ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 2790 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (31 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Statistics (2 items: Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting); Household equipment (45 items: Households having a washing machine; Households having a clothes dryer; Households having a dishwasher; Households having refrigerators; ...).

Description:

This table contains 2790 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (31 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Statistics (2 items: Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting); Household equipment (45 items: Households having a washing machine; Households having a clothes dryer; Households having a dishwasher; Households having refrigerators; ...).

Description:

This table contains 2356 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (31 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household expenditure summary-level categories (19 items: Total expenditure; Total current consumption; Food; Shelter;...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This table contains 448 series, with data for years 1997 - 2009 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (14 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia; ...); Household spending, food (8 items: Total food; Food purchased from stores; Food purchased from stores locally or on day trips; Food purchased from stores while on trips overnight or longer; ...); Statistics (4 items: Average expenditure; Percent of households reporting; Estimated number of households reporting; Median expenditure per household reporting).

Description:

This fact sheet offers brief outlines of spending on postsecondary education, based on data from three Statistics Canada data sources: the Survey of Household Spending (SHS); the Tuition and Living Accommodation Costs for Full-time Students at Canadian Degree-granting Institutions (TLAC) survey; and the Financial Information of Universities and Colleges (FIUC) survey. Information on household spending on postsecondary tuition, on university tuition fees paid by students, and on student fees as a proportion of university revenues is presented for Canada and the provinces.

Description:

The value of education and the benefits that flow from it are substantial for many Canadian families. Previous research has found that Canadian parents are strongly committed to their children's postsecondary education. However, many parents of children under the age of 18 are confronted with a number of competing savings priorities. Based on data from the 2009 Canadian Financial Capability Survey (CFCS), this article examines who saves for postsecondary education and how they do so.

Description:

Mortgages consistently account for two-thirds of Canadians' household debt. This study uses the Survey of Household Spending to examine the characteristics of mortgagees and the size of their payments. It focuses on mortgage payments expressed as a percentage of disposable income-the mortgage-liability ratio. This analysis highlights differences in personal characteristics, and spending and saving patterns among households with higher and lower mortgage-liability ratios.

Description:

Previous studies of older Canadians well-being have focused on changes in income as individuals age and leave the workforce. However, little has been published on the extent to which consumption levels change in this transitional period. This study uses data from the Survey of Family Expenditures and the Survey of Household Spending to develop a synthetic cohort approach to determine how the consumption patterns of households headed by those born in the late 1930s changed from middle age (in the early 1980s) to retirement (in the late 2000s).

Description:

Studies of pre- and post-retirement annual income have focused on the extent to which income falls at this crucial stage in life. Although these studies vary in scope and intent, the overall consensus is that the Canadian retirement income system provides income replacement rates that are in the excess of 60% to 70% for a plurality of Canadians, especially for those who had low incomes during their prime working years. However, little has been published on the extent to which retirees maintain their same levels of consumption. Using data from the Survey of Family Expenditures (FAMEX) and from the Survey of Household Spending (SHS), this study develops a synthetic cohort approach to determine how the consumption patterns of households headed by individuals in their late 40s (in the early 1980s) differ from those of a group of households headed by individuals in their early 70s (in the late 2000s). It finds that, even though the nature of consumption changes over time, the overall levels of consumption "per adult" do not decline by substantial amounts among Canadians as they age.

Description:

This article uses data from the General Social Survey (GSS) from 2003 and 2008 to explore consumers' propensity to choose some products and boycott others based on ethical criteria. It compares the evolution of citizens' ethical consumption to other types of political participation. It also provides information on the persons most likely to choose or boycott a product for ethical reasons.

Description:

This product presents the latest facts and figures on gambling in Canada.

Description:

This special study analyses price movements using three groupings of the CPI items based on frequency of purchase (frequent purchases, non-frequent purchases and contractual purchases), to provide a better understanding of the sources of consumer inflation and to help shed light on people's perception of inflation.

Description:

This fact sheet provides an overview of household spending related to education between 1997 and 2007. The text and accompanying charts summarize data at the Canadian and provincial levels from the Survey of Household Spending.

Description:

Buoyed by rising incomes coupled with stable inflation and low interest rates, Canadians went on a spending spree between 1999 and 2005. However, much of the increased spending was financed through credit, as the personal savings rate slumped and per capita debt jumped. This paper divides families into seven cohorts, based on the year of birth of the major income recipient, and compares family assets and debts in 2005 with the situation in 1999 to provide a rough life-cycle portrait of Canadian families.

Description: This guide presents information of interest to users of data from the Survey of Household Spending (SHS). It includes descriptions of the survey terms and variables definitions as well as of the survey methodology and data quality. The guide also includes a section describing various examples of estimates that can be drawn from the survey data.

Description: This guide presents information of interest to users of data from the Survey of Household Spending (SHS). It includes descriptions of the survey terms and variables definitions as well as of the survey methodology and data quality. The guide also includes a section describing various examples of estimates that can be drawn from the survey data.

Description:

This guide presents information of interest to users of data from the Survey of Household Spending (SHS). It includes descriptions of the survey terms and variables definitions as well as of the survey methodology and data quality. The guide also includes a section describing various examples of estimates that can be drawn from the survey data.

Description:

The Survey of Household Spending (SHS) conducted by Statistics Canada collects detailed spending information as well as selected information on dwelling characteristics and household equipment. This technical note provides additional information on the quality of the SHS data and their fitness for use.

Description:

This guide presents information of interest to users of data from the Survey of Household Spending (SHS). It includes descriptions of the survey terms and variables definitions as well as of the survey methodology and data quality. The guide also includes a section describing various examples of estimates that can be drawn from the survey data.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2015 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2014 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2013 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2012 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.

Description:

This report describes the quality indicators produced for the 2011 Survey of Household Spending. These quality indicators, such as coefficients of variation, nonresponse rates, slippage rates and imputation rates, help users interpret the survey data.