BC Council for Families

by Marilee Peters
Director of Communications, BC Council for Families

Canadian families are finally in six figure territory. That was the news this past week from the Vanier Institute of the Family, in their latest report on Canadian Family Finances. Unfortunately, the announcement wasn't good news, as the "six figures" refers to family debt load, not income.

Among the report's findings:

• average debt load is now equal to 150% of average disposable income of households in Canada. That means for every $1,000 in after-tax income, Canadian families owe $1,500.
• rising levels of household debt place one million households in vulnerable situations
• BC has the third highest average family income (after Alberta and Ontario), yet 10.4% of BC children live in poverty - the highest rate in Canada
• families with younger members preparing to enter the workforce face tremendous pressure. only 5% of the new jobs created since mid 2009 went to the 15-24 age group
• economic fortunes of female lone parents have improved. Female lone-parents increased their labour force participation from 73% to 84% between 1990 and 2008. Rising incomes for women combined with higher participation in the paid work force produced a 43% increase in the average after-tax incomes of female lone parents over this period.

Roger Sauve, the report's author, cautions that "as governments at all levels craft their budgets for the coming year and look at cutting programs to reduce their deficits, they need to be mindful that the state of Canadian family finances continues to be fragile in many households".