[includes data from all listserv members' nations...]
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050210/d050210c.htm
Study: Trends in income inequality in Canada from an international
perspective
Income inequality in Canada is higher than in Europe but lower than in the
United States, according to a new report that summarizes the findings of
recent studies that have examined family income inequality and low income.
Income inequality is measured by the ratio of the income of a family at the
90th percentile (here, a family for which 90% have lower incomes and only
10% have higher incomes) to a family at the 10th percentile (the family for
which 90% have higher family incomes and only 10% lower).
In the late 1990s, families at the 90th percentile of the income
distribution in Canada had incomes about 4 times higher than that of their
counterparts at the 10th percentile. This ratio was 5.4 in the United
States and 4.5 in the United Kingdom. In the mainland European countries
included in the study, it ranged from 2.9 to 3.3 (Germany, Netherlands,
Belgium, Finland and Sweden).
Canada largely avoided the rise in income inequality evident in both the
United States and the United Kingdom throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
However, evidence indicates this began to change during the 1990s when
gains associated with economic expansion in Canada went mainly to higher
income families.
While incomes among the richest 20% of families were rising by about 10%,
total family income stagnated among the poorest 20% of families between
1990 and 2000. The result was a moderate increase in family income
inequality in Canada.
In addition, the mid-1990s saw an unexpected increase in the low-income
rate in Canada as it deviated from its expected trend based on the
unemployment rate. As unemployment fell in the mid-1990s, the low-income
rate continued to rise... SNIP
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