Income gap declined from 'record high' in Q2: StatCan
BNN Bloomberg
Canada’s income gap declined in the second quarter of 2023 from record highs a year earlier, due largely to worker wage gains and improved benefits for retirees.
Statistics Canada shared new figures Wednesday on the income gap, or the difference in disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent of incomes and those in the bottom 40 per cent of incomes across the country.
The data showed the income gap declined to 45.1 per cent during the quarter, down from a record high of 47 per cent a year earlier “when the expiry of government COVID-19 support benefits in combination with weaker labour market conditions pushed the income gap to a historical high.”
A report on the findings highlighted that households in the bottom 20 per cent had significant gains in average disposable income during the second quarter of this year compared to the previous year, due mostly to rises in transfers such as Old Age Security Benefits.
