The Canadian Council for Policy Alternatives is out this evening with a study that looks at the gap between rich and poor in Canada. Some of their findings:
- The concentration of wealth at the high end continued to grow from 1999 to 2005.
- The wealthiest 20% of families held 69.2% of the total net wealth in Canada, up from 68.5% in 1999. That increase in share was entirely at the expense of the middle 20%, whose share dropped from 8.8% to 8.4%.
- The net worth of the 20% of families at the bottom of the wealth scale was negative again in 2005.
- Debt increased at a faster rate than net worth. More than 6.5% of families literally operate under water, with negative net worth.
- Between 1999 and 2005, the median debt load for families rose 38%, from $32,300 in 1999 to $44,500 in 2005.