There is a hidden, "crouching tiger" dimension to Canada's income inequality problem.
It is called household debt, and as a nation, we are rolling in it.
In his latest report [2] released today, Vanier Institute's [3] Roger Sauve warns a perfect storm may be brewing:
Canadian household incomes have been flatlined for decades (CCPA research [4] shows average real wages have been stagnant for 30 long years) but the cost of living keeps rising. In fact, the cost of owning a home (and everything else) is putting a lot of Canadians into hawk up to their eyeballs.
Add a looming recession, and it could spell trouble. Sauve says: "... a lot of households couldn't keep up."
We used to be a nation of savers. Now we are a nation of nailbiters.
A mountain of debt has a funny way of doing that to you. See the CCPA's upcoming Alternative Federal Budget (released later this month) for suggested solutions to income inequality and poverty reduction.
-- Trish Hennessy