Income and wealth inequality among Canadian households is increasing at record speed amid inflation and rising interest rates, and younger households are bearing the financial burden, a new report from Statistics Canada shows. The gap in net worth between the most and least wealthy increased 1.1 percentage points in the first quarter relative to the same time a year before, marking the fastest increase on record. And it’s the least wealthy and younger households who are feeling the pinch of inflation particularly hard. Debt-to-income ratios for younger and core working-age groups were at their highest rates on record, and well above pre-pandemic rates at the end of 2019, the StatCan data shows. Statistics Canada in June reported that Canadians owed $1.85 for every dollar of disposable income in the first quarter of 2023.

Source: thestar July 07, 2023 02:53 UTC