StatsCan on Wealth Distribution

update (December 14, 2006 11:54)

The Globe and Mail has an online poll today regarding the wealth distribution pieces that have been all over the news lately. The Globe Poll reads;

"A recent study shows the chasm between rich and poor is growing. Last year, those in the top fifth of wealth distribution had a median net worth of about $551,000 while for families in the bottom fifth, the value of their assets never exceeded the value of their debts. Where do you place yourself on the 'wealth' scale?"

The possible answers are "Top 20%", "Top 40%", "Right in the middle", "Bottom 40%", and "Bottom 20%".

When I answered the poll, there was a disproportionately high number of people who categorized themselves as being a part of the richest 20% of the population. I wonder if people might be misunderstanding exactly how few people actually hold all that wealth, or perhaps the lack of scientific value of online polls is being clearly demonstrated, or readers of the Globe and Mail are those people in the top 20%, or maybe we need more people to answer the poll in order to get values that reflect the findings of the studies - or more likely, it's a combination of all those reasons. Regardless, the results of the poll can be found here.

~~~

StatsCan has released some new data that is a good companion piece to my post a couple of days ago on the disparity of wealth distribution in the world.

"Of the total household wealth in Canada in 2005, the top 20 per cent possessed 75 per cent of it."

This article focuses more on the cost of housing as a factor in the widening gap between the rich and the poor in Canada.

"Most of those (95 per cent) in the top 20 per cent bracket owned a home, and the median value of that home grew by $75,000 between 1999 and 2005. Only six per cent of those in the lowest wealth group owned a home."

"Statistics Canada said the median net worth of the poorest group has stagnated over the past two decades. 'The value of their assets never exceeded the value of their debts during the 1984 to 2005 period.'"

~