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Viewpoint: Measuring the well‐being of the poor with income or consumption: a Canadian perspective

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  • Matthew Brzozowski
  • Thomas F. Crossley

Abstract

There is a long tradition of using consumption measures derived from Statistics Canada's household expenditures surveys to study material well‐being, inequality, and poverty. We offer an introduction to this research. Income and consumption measures give different pictures of the patterns of material well‐being in Canada, but the differences are not as large as in the US. We also provide a comparison to Meyer and Sullivan's results on data quality. Canadian expenditure surveys are of high quality. Unique aspects of these surveys (variation in quality control measures over time and the possibility of comparing to income tax data) provide important insights into the quality of survey data on income and consumption. Il existe une longue tradition d’utilisation de mesures de consommation (dérivées de l’enquête des dépenses des ménages de Statistiques Canada) pour mesurer le bien‐être matériel, l’inégalité et la pauvreté. Les auteurs présentent ces recherches. Les mesures de revenus et de consommation donnent des portraits différents des patterns de bien‐être matériel au Canada, mais les différences ne sont pas aussi importantes qu’aux Etats‐Unis. On présente une comparaison avec les résultats de Meyer et Sullivan sur la qualité des données. Les enquêtes sur les dépenses sont de haute qualité au Canada. Certains aspects uniques de ces enquêtes (variation dans les mesures de contrôle de qualité dans le temps et possibilité de comparer les données dérivées des rapports d’impôt sur le revenu) fournissent des aperçus importants sur la qualité des données d’enquêtes sur le revenu et la consommation.

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  • Matthew Brzozowski & Thomas F. Crossley, 2011. "Viewpoint: Measuring the well‐being of the poor with income or consumption: a Canadian perspective," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 88-106, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:44:y:2011:i:1:p:88-106
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5982.2010.01624.x
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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access

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