Study examines link between marriage and income
The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada has released what it calls a "first-ever" analysis of Statistics Canada data examining the link between marriage and income in Canada.
Titled "The Marriage Gap Between Rich and Poor Canadians: How Canadians are split into haves and have-nots along marriage lines" the data shows there is a dramatic “marriage gap” in Canada, say the researchers. The wealthy are mostly coupled up, and the poor are mostly unattached.
The full report and a video are available online at this link: The Marriage Gap Between Rich and Poor Canadians.
The study was co-authored by IMFC senior researcher Peter Jon Mitchell and Philip Cross, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a former Statistics Canada economist.
"Our analysis shows that marriage in Canada, to an astonishing degree, is linked to income," they say in the report's executive summary. "The wealthiest Canadians are very likely to be married, while the lowest income earners are very likely to be unmarried. This is a concern since marriage itself is a powerful wealth creator.
"The share of married families has declined since 1976. It dropped more amongst the middle class and low income earners, causing the marriage gap to widen. However, an unexpected turning point occurred in 1998 as the marriage decline began to level off. A small dip in the number of formally married couples since then has been offset by a growth in common-law couples.
"The marriage gap between rich and poor remains very large, worthy of serious consideration by policymakers."
(From an IMFC press release)
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