Downloads
crossley_bc2011.pdf
PDF | 145.91 KB
There is a long tradition of using consumption measures derived from Statistics Canada's household expenditures surveys to study material well-being, inequality, and poverty. We offer an introduction to this research. Income and consumption measures give different pictures of the patterns of material well-being in Canada, but the differences are not as large as in the US.We also provide a comparison to Meyer and Sullivan's results on data quality. Canadian expenditure surveys are of high quality. Unique aspects of these surveys (variation in quality control measures over time and the possibility of comparing to income tax data) provide important insights into the quality of survey data on income and consumption.
Authors
Research Fellow University of Michigan
Tom is a Research Fellow at IFS, a Research Professor for the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
Matthew Brzozowski
Suggested citation
Brzozowski, M and Crossley, T. (2011). 'Viewpoint: Measuring the well-being of the poor with income or consumption: a Canadian perspective' (2011)
More from IFS
Understand this issue
Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away
15 April 2024
Social mobility and wealth
12 December 2023
How important is the Bank of Mum and Dad?
15 December 2023
Policy analysis
Living standards since the last election
21 March 2024
Major challenges for education in Wales
21 March 2024
Sliding education results and high inequalities should prompt big rethink in Welsh education policy
21 March 2024
Academic research
Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages
15 April 2024
Saving by buying ahead: stockpiling in response to lump-sum payments
2 February 2024
There and back again: women’s marginal commuting costs
2 April 2024