MORE CANADIANS SAY THEY STRUGGLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET

Sat 17 August 2024:

Nearly half of Canadians say rising prices are greatly affecting their ability to make ends meet, a significant jump from two years ago, according to a new Statistics Canada report.

The report, using data from the spring 2024 cycle of the Canadian Social Survey, shows that 45 percent of Canadians say they are struggling to meet their day-to-day expenses, up from 33 percent in spring 2022. The issue is more pronounced among younger adults, people from lower-income groups, people in households with children, and people with disabilities, the data show, Yahoo News reported.

The data mirror some aspects in the Bank of Canada’s most recent quarterly survey of consumer expectations, which found that “perceived financial stress remains high”.

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Even though a much greater proportion say rising prices are affecting their daily bottom line than two years ago, the proportion of Canadians saying most days are “quite a bit” or “extremely” stressful due to financial concerns has changed little since 2022, rising from 33 percent to 35 percent.

The impact of rising prices decreases as respondents’ income goes up, with 59 percent of those in the lowest-income quintile saying their ability to meet daily expenses has been greatly affected. Even among the highest quintile, the proportion is 27 percent.

Housing costs, both for purchase and rent, stand out as a growing concern for Canadians, the Statistics Canada report says, with 38 percent of respondents saying they are “very concerned with their ability to afford housing or rent”, up from 30 percent in 2022.

Those concerns are more common among younger Canadians, the data show, with 56 percent of Canadians from 15 to 34 years old very concerned about housing affordability.

Younger Canadians are also feeling more financial stress overall, with 55 percent of respondents aged 25 to 44 saying rising prices are greatly affecting their ability to get by, and just over 45 percent saying most days are quite a bit or extremely stressful because of financial issues.

Concerns about food prices, which have risen sharply due to inflation over the past few years, also showed up in the survey, with 23 percent of respondents saying they were somewhat or very likely to get food or meals from community organizations over the next six months. As with the other measures, these numbers are higher among Canadians between 25 and 34 (28 percent), and 35 and 44 (27 percent).

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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