Sociology 304

March 11, 1999

Statistics on Canadian Incomes and Allocation of Time


Table 1. Mean Income of Families and Unattached Individuals in 1996 Dollars, Selected Years, 1951-1996

 

Year

Mean Family Income in 1996 Dollars

Average Family Size

Mean Income of Unattached Individuals in 1996 Dollars

1951

22,743

3.8

8,776

1961

30,203

3.9

12,059

1971

44,101

3.8

18,486

1981

55,042

3.3

24,617

1989

58,910

3.1

25,577

1996

56,629

3.1

24,433

 

Table 2. Incidence of Low Income for Selected Characteristics

 

Characteristic

1980-1982

1987-1989

1994-1996

All Individuals

16.4%

15.3%

17.6%

Children under Age 18

17.1%

16.4%

20.5%

Elderly, Age 65 and over

32.3%

24.5%

19.6%

Elderly in Families

16.3%

10.6%

6.9%

Unattached Elderly

67.0%

54.2%

46.9%

Male Lone Parent Families

23.4%

21.0%

31.4%

Female Lone Parent Families

56.7%

55.5%

58.0%

 

Table 3. Incidence of Low Income among Families by Age of Family Head

 

Age of Family Head

1980-1982

1987-1989

1994-1996

24 and under

23.2%

29.8%

43.3%

25-34

13.6%

14.7%

19.0%

35-44

12.0%

10.9%

14.5%

45-54

10.3%

7.8%

10.2%

55-64

12.0%

11.0%

12.6%

65 years and over

18.2%

11.9%

7.9%

 

The source for Tables 1-3 is Statistics Canada, Income Distributions by Size in Canada 1996, Ottawa, Ministry of Industry, 1997, catalogue number 13-207-XPB. From Text Tables I, II, and IV, pp. 25-35, and Table 66, pp. 180-181.

 

Table 4. Average Time Spent on Activities, Males and Females, Canada, 1992

 

Type of Activity

All Adults, Minutes per Day

 

Participants, Minutes per Day

 

 

Male

Female

Male

Female

Paid Work and Related Activities

270

160

526

457

Household Work

134

248

172

265

Cooking, Washing up

22

70

45

86

House Cleaning, Laundry

13

65

79

113

Maintenance and Repair

19

4

165

149

Primary Child Care

15

36

94

139

Shopping

37

53

109

122

Other

28

19

105

66

Civic and Voluntary Activity

23

24

131

129

Education and Related Activities

35

35

384

351

Sleep, Meals, Personal Activities

617

645

617

645

Free Time

360

327

370

338

Total

1439

1439

 

 

 

Note: There are 1440 minutes in a day. The middle columns give averages for all survey respondents aged 15 and over, regardless of whether or not they reported the activity. The last two columns give average times spent at the activity for those reporting the activity.

Source: Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.ca:80/english/Pgdb/People/Families/famil36b.htm and /famil36c.htm, February 5, 1999. These data are from the General Social Survey, 1992.


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