http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0839-e.htm
Although the incidence of low income has declined significantly since 1997, its level in 2006 was similar to that found in the late 1980s...
Prior to 1996, the federal government set its own minimum wage rate, a single rate that was applied to all employers covered under Part III of the Canada Labour Code. Since that time, the federal minimum wage has been set according to the applicable provincial or territorial legislated rate for adult workers.(3) Consequently, there are 13 different federal minimum wage rates applied to workers covered under Part III of the Canada Labour Code.(4) Figure 1 provides a graphic illustration of 2008 regional federal minimum wages, which range from a low of $7.75 per hour in New Brunswick to a high of $10.00 per hour in Nunavut...
Between 1997 and 2007, the average federal minimum wage increased by some 21%. However, when adjusted for inflation, the average federal minimum wage declined slightly (less than 5%) during the same period.
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http://maytree.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/figure1_national_average_minimum_wage1.jpg (image)
D- min. wage peaked in 1976 (Boomers) and bottomed out by 1985 (Xers).
D - it is not any 1 measurement, or any 1 policy that accounts for generational differences. It is ALL of them in synergy.
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http://www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/auto/diagramme-chart/stg2/c_15_54_1_4_eng.png?20091025165225865 (image)
D - this chart ignores the cost in principal and interest in paying back a student loan.
D - I saw a surprising min. wage chart for the USA. The young adults had worse hourly wages than teens - when they're working thru school.
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And wage means little without the context of income tax.
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/fq/txrts-eng.html
Federal tax rates for 2012
15% on the first $42,707 of taxable income, +
22% on the next $42,707 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income over $42,707 up to $85,414), +
26% on the next $46,992 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income over $85,414 up to $132,406), +
29% of taxable income over $132,406.
Ontario 5.05% on the first $39,020 of taxable income, +
9.15% on the next $39,023, +
11.16% on the amount over $78,043
D - notice anything? They gouge the middle class, then increases in tax rate for the upper class starts to level out. Not particularly progressive, particulary when all those credits and exemptions are considered. Me, I'm all for a pretty much flat tax, if it means no exemptions. At least I could file my own tax form then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Canada#Personal_income_taxes
Income taxes throughout Canada are progressive with the high income residents paying a higher percentage than the low income residents. However, a study conducted by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and released on November 8, 2007, found that the richest pay the lowest rates of all income groups.[1]
D - aside: I tried 1 year. I could not figure out for the life of me where the rent rebate went. Turns out it was under the category 'property owned'. I don't own any property so I ignored that category. Clear as MUD.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopsony#Minimum_wage
D - economic theory behind setting min. wage. A bit beyond me.
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D - so somebody working full time at minimum wage is already paying income tax. Folks wonder how welfare and disability get exploited by the undeserving. Perhaps they should ask WHY it is. The answer is we punish work ethic, and artificially depress entry-level workers into poverty with our tax policy. I should know. I spent my 20s and early 30s getting taxed with an income typically between the absolute and relative poverty lines.
BTW, I could have paid off my student loan if I was not being artificially depressed into a lower poverty rung by income tax. So how much gov't / society gained from this strategy is dubious.
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Little change in low income rates
The incidence of low income in Canada remained relatively stable in 2009 using the after-tax low income cut-offs. Nearly 3.2 million Canadians, or 9.6% of the population, lived in low income, virtually unchanged from 2008.
About 634,000 children aged 17 and under, or 9.5%, lived in low-income families in 2009, also virtually unchanged. This proportion was roughly half the peak of 18% in 1996.
D - we made good inroads into child poverty. Note that senior poverty levels are lower than any other group.
(statscan) In the late 1970s, Canada’s seniors were the most likely families to experience low income, with nearly 20% earning less than the low income cut-off. Pension program reforms at the end of the 1970s helped this rate to decline sharply, so that by 2006 senior families had Canada’s lowest incidence of low income, at 2.3%.
While it seems particularly humane to address senior poverty, the societal payoff takes place while we are still 'investing' in children.
Living in poverty trims 9IQ points off a child, on average.
In other words, we stunt our future geniuses.
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http://www41.statcan.ca/2008/3868/ceb3868_000-eng.htm
Gains for all families
From 1997 to 2006, the median after-tax annual income of families composed of two or more people grew 18%, from $49,400 to $58,300 (2006 constant dollars). This period of sustained growth follows two decades where the median after-tax income for most families grew very little or even declined...
Median after-tax incomes for unattached elderly men and women grew the slowest from 1997 to 2006, at 11% and 14% respectively. Lone-parent families saw the most income growth during the past decade: their median after-tax income increased by almost half, from $23,800 in 1997 to $34,900 in 2006.
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D - as we'd expect with my "benign neglect" hypothesis. Once Boomers were in the workplace and getting divorced, well, there it is. The #s support the hypothesis.
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Government transfers can make up a sizeable portion of family income. From 2005 to 2006, unattached individuals and families of two or more people saw their median transfers rise from $3,100 to $3,500.
Child tax benefit programs were changed and new federal and provincial benefits were introduced in 2006, increasing not only the amounts transferred to families, but also the proportion of families receiving transfers
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D - not just tax rate. Also fiscal policy - child tax credits. Once again, as we'd expect from Boomers reaching the heyday of their political clout and income earning potential.
D - here's a prediction. The child tax credit will suddenly get de-emphasized once the Boomers have all retired, despite the more onerous burden of parenting facing the younger generations.
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http://www.bankruptcycanada.com/images/BankChart1980-2010.gif (image)
D - looks like times got tougher after 1980. Though not the chart is not adjusted per-capita for population growth.
D - really spiked during the 'jobless recovery' of 1991- which also coincides with when tuition started increasing 10% per year.
I suspect the brief plateaus can be linked to student loan rules about time out of school. Though it did nothing to halt such trends in the long term - it merely increased the suffering during those years for grads in need of succor.
Well try as I might, I cannot find an annual historical chart of basic income tax exemptions.
The first income tax act:
http://www.duhaime.org/LawMuseum/CanadianLegalHistory/LawArticle-168/1917-The-Birth-of-Income-Tax.aspx
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http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/images/minwage_avwage.png (image)
D - note how it plummets between the 80s and 90s as a proportion of typical hourly wage (US? but relevant). Why? The Boomers had moved past entry level starter jobs. They no longer CARED.
It stays there through the youth and young adulthood of GenX.
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