What is the “viable” income in Quebec?

From what income does one escape precariousness in Quebec? As every year, the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS) has painted, in a new study published on Wednesday, a portrait of the income threshold from which a Quebecer can not only meet his basic needs, but also have “a dignified standard of living”.

In 2023, the viable income for a single person is $32,252 in Montreal, estimates IRIS. In Saguenay, where housing costs less, it is $27,047. In Sept-Îles, where having a car is necessary to get around, it reaches $37,822. As a barometer, a single person earning the minimum wage in Quebec has an annual disposable income of $25,290.

In its study, the research institute looks at three types of households – a single person, a single-parent family with a child in CPE, a family of two adults and two children in CPE – and studies the viable income for each of them. between them in seven municipalities in Quebec.

IRIS’s calculation of sustainable income goes beyond the traditional Market Basket Measure (MBM), Canada’s official measure of poverty, which equals the cost of a basket of goods and services corresponding to a level of modest life. “Living without poverty does not just mean covering basic needs,” says Ève-Lyne Couturier, researcher at IRIS.

In their calculation, the IRIS researchers consider several factors already taken into account in the MPC, such as food, housing and transport, but improve their amounts. They also add other expense items that are not included in the calculation of the MBM, such as non-reimbursed health care (dental or eye care), a “monthly outing to the restaurant and other convivial activity”, or even a provident fund.

“If there is one element that characterizes whether or not you have emerged from poverty, it is to have a small financial cushion to manage the unexpected, like a washing machine that breaks, without having to go into debt” , illustrates Mme Dressmaker.

Inflation and tax cuts

The IRIS researchers also note that the rise in commodity prices over the past year has disproportionately affected the less well-off. For Quebecers who are part of the poorest 20%, the 3 main items of expenditure which are food, housing and transportation represent approximately 60% of their total expenditure; for the richest 20%, they represent less than 40%, note Mme Dressmaker.

“A pound of butter at $7, and even more in neighborhood grocery stores, will weigh more on a disposable income of $20,000 than on another of $40,000 or $80,000,” the researchers give as an example. ‘IRIS.

Of the 21 situations analyzed — the three types of households in the seven localities studied — the researchers observed that in 15 cases, the increase in income necessary for “a dignified standard of living” exceeded the rate of inflation between 2022 and 2023.

“The one-off measures to help Quebecers cope with inflation are disappearing, but the price of a pound of butter will not come down tomorrow. Low-income people will therefore have to continue to deal with inflation without occasional assistance. However, the tax cuts announced in the last budget will mainly benefit the highest incomes,” laments Ève-Lyne Couturier.

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