Two-in-five find themselves dipping into savings and other accounts
For more than a year, Canadians have depended on their savings to get by during a crisis in the cost of living.
According to the most current data from the Angus Reid Institute, two-thirds of Canadians have curbed their discretionary spending recently, but millions still face financial difficulties.
Two out of five people (40%) admit that recent hardships have prompted them to withdraw money from accounts they usually try to avoid touching, and one out of three people (35%) have postponed contributing to their RRSP or TFSA. One in 10 have borrowed money from relatives and friends (13%), sold assets (11%), or applied for a bank loan (8%).
Fifty-four percent of Canadians with family incomes under $50,000 per year claim to be in dire or terrible financial situation. One-third (33%) of families with an income between $50,000 and $99,999 and one-in-five (21%) of households with an income of $100,000 or more say the same.
Although individuals with lower incomes are more likely to report using their savings to pay bills recently, at least one-third of people in all income categories report doing so. The majority of people (29%) who report asking friends or family for money come from households making less than $25,000 per year.
Employers in Canada are raising pay and benefits in order to assist staff members keep pace with inflation. Wages rose 5.4% from the previous year in February. While 45% of Canadian workers — including a greater proportion of part-time employees—did not get a pay increase in the previous 12 months, 55% of workers in Canada have seen their salaries increase since then.
Compared to those who work full-time (58%), part-time employees are substantially less likely (35%) to have received increased pay in the last year
Two out of every five (40%) Canadians aged 45 to 54 and more than one third (35%) of those aged 55 to 64 report being in poor or worse financial position. This might be the reason why so many Canadians in this age group are delaying retirement. People under the age of 40 are more likely than older Canadians to report having bad financial health.
It shouldn't be surprising that 34% of Canadians say their financial conditions are "bad" or "terrible" -- an increase of six points from July of the prior year. For them, food prices are increasing at a rate that is significantly higher than the national average (about 10%). Nine out of 10 (94%) respondents who consider their financial situation to be in "bad shape" say it is difficult to support their families, while four out of five people (80%) believe that their physical state is "poor."
Recently, the federal government unveiled a budget that included policy initiatives including one-time grocery subsidies to reduce financial strain.
