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Poverty Statistics

Last updated: 2002

Percentage and Number of Persons in Low Income/Poverty, by Age, Sex and Family Characteristics,
Canada, 1990 and 1999

  1990 1999
  Percentage (%) of persons in low income/poverty
All persons 15.3 16.2
Under 18 years of age 17.6 18.5
18 to 64 13.4 15.0
65 and over 21.3 17.7
Males 13.3 14.6
Under 18 years of age 17.2 18.9
18 to 64 11.7 13.8
65 and over 13.7 10.0
Females 17.3 17.7
Under 18 years of age 18.1 18.1
18 to 64 15.2 16.3
65 and over 27.1 23.5
Persons in economic families 12.1 12.4
Males 10.8 11.6
Females 13.3 13.2
Elderly people 7.0 5.1
Males 7.4 4.5
Females 6.6 5.8
Persons under 18 years of age 17.6 18.5
In two-parent families 11.0 12.1
In female lone-parent families 62.8 55.8
In all other economic families 27.9 25.2
Persons 18 to 64 years of age 10.2 10.9
Males 8.2 9.4
Females 12.1 12.3
Unattached individuals 37.4 38.9
Males 30.6 33.0
Females 43.9 44.8
Elderly persons 50.7 44.0
Males 41.0 31.9
Females 53.8 48.5
Persons under 65 year of age 32.4 37.0
Males 29.0 33.2
Females 37.1 42.3
  1990 1999
  Number of persons in low income/poverty
All persons 4,181,000 4,886,000
Under 18 years of age 1,195,000 1,298,000
18 to 64 2,357,000 2,942,000
65 and over 629,000 646,000
Males 1,799,000 2,187,000
Under 18 years of age 596,000 679,000
18 to 64 1,030,000 1,349,000
65 and over 173,000 159,000
Females 2,382,000 2,699,000
Under 18 years of age 599,000 619,000
18 to 64 1,327,000 1,593,000
65 and over 456,000 487,000
Persons in economic families 2,865,000 3,219,000
Males 1,273,000 1,486,000
Females 1,592,000 1,734,000
Elderly persons 139,000 127,000
Males 76,000 58,000
Females 63,000 69,000
Persons under 18 years of age 1,195,000 1,298,000
In two-parent families 631,000 697,000
In female lone-parent families 491,000 521,000
In all other economic families 74,000 79,000
Persons 18 to 64 years of age 1,531,000 1,794,000
Males 601,000 749,000
Females 930,000 1,045,000
Unattached individuals 1,317,000 1,667,000
Males 526,000 701,000
Females 790,000 965,000
Elderly persons 490,000 519,000
Males 97,000 101,000
Females 393,000 417,000
Persons under 65 year of age 826,000 1,148,000
Males 429,000 600,000
Females 397,000 548,000
Source: Prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development, using Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 75-202-XIE.

Note: This table uses before-tax-and-transfer income to determine poverty status.

Reading this table

Example: 15% of all persons in Canada were living in poverty in 1990. By 1999, the proportion of persons in Canada had increased to 16.2%. There were an estimated 4,886,000 persons living in poverty in 1999; of these, 1,298,000 were children under the age of 18.

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Canadian Council on Social Development, 190 O'Connor Street, Suite 100, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2R3
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca