Rich getting richer ...
The vast majority of Canadian families — almost 80 per cent — are working more and earning less than they did 30 years ago even as incomes of the richest families are soaring, says a new study to be released today.
“The rich are getting richer, the poor aren’t going anywhere and there are fewer people in the middle to mediate the two extremes. We ignore these trends at our collective peril,” says the study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The report, titled “The Rich and the Rest of Us,” shows that the richest 10 per cent of families with children — those with incomes more than $131,200 in 2004 — earned 82 times the amount earned by the oorest 10 per cent. In 1976, the richest families earned 31 times the amount of the poorest families.
The bottom half of families raising children, those earning less than $60,000 in 2004, earned less or stayed the same, in inflation-adjusted terms, compared to a generation ago. Those in-between worked more hours just to keep pace, according to the study, based on StatsCan labour income data from 1976 to 2004. Myrna Stoller, 50, a hotel-room cleaner and her husband, a tool and die designer, earn a combined $70,000 annually — the average income for a Canadian family in 2004. They don’t feel average though, or middle class. “It’s getting worse because everything is so expensive, yet our wages increase just a little. Before you know it, you’re getting ehind,” said Stoller, who arrived here 20 years ago from the Philippines and has raised three children. For 16 years she worked 40-hour weeks tidying up rooms that go for $280 to $450 a night. She often sees the same people coming back. “I see the rich are getting richer,” she said. “But we’re not getting to where we’re supposed to be.”
Economist Hugh Mackenzie blames the growing income gap on several factors:
- Minimum wages that haven’t kept pace with inflation.
- The loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs and rise of lower-paying service sector work.
- The decline in union workplaces.
- The increase in contract and temporary employment.
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
Study
March 1, 2007
