3. Methodology

This analysis is based primarily on data from the Census of Population (2001 to 2021) and T1 Family File (2001 to 2021), with some data from various Statistics Canada surveys, including the Canadian Income Survey (2012 to 2022), the Labour Force Survey (2001 to 2021) and the Canadian Survey on Disability (2015 and 2020). Since the Census of Population is the main data source and the last Census data are from 2021, this report will analyze trends between 2001 and 2021. It is important to note that the reference period (2001 to 2021) includes years impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,Footnote 9 which substantially impacted the finances of Canadians nation-wide.Footnote 10

Statistics Canada uses three concepts to measure income among groups of people living together: census families, economic families, and households. In this report, the concept of census families is used for most of the analysis. Please consult the Glossary for the definitions of key concepts used throughout the report. Ideally, an analysis should focus on only one low-income measure and only one concept of the family. However, this report used what data were publicly available online; as such, multiple low-income measures and family concepts were used.

In assessing the economic well-being of lone-parent families, several low-income measures are used, including the Census Family Low Income Measure – After Tax (CFLIM-AT), the Low Income Measure – After Tax (LIM-AT), and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). Both the CFLIM-AT and LIM-AT define a family as living in low income if their adjusted after-tax income falls below the total population’s median adjusted after-tax income.Footnote 11 The total population median adjusted after-tax income is determined based on the number of people living within a household (or within a census family for the CFLIM-AT). Some limitations of the CFLIM-AT and the LIM-AT is that they do not account for the cost of living, region nor community size. However, they provide common measures for all of Canada.

Meanwhile, the MBM is based on the cost of a specific basket of goods and services (e.g., food, shelter, transportation, clothing) representing a modest, basic standard of living for a reference family in a specific geographical location. These costs are compared to the disposable income of families to determine whether or not they fall below the poverty line. Since the introduction of the Poverty Reduction Act in 2019,Footnote 12 the MBM has been used to designate the official Canadian poverty line. While MBM statistics will be prioritized in this report, CFLIM-AT and LIM-AT measures will be used when MBM statistics are not available.Footnote 13

It is important to note that comparisons between lone-parent families, couple families and persons not in a census family do not take into consideration the different costs of living in each household. Cost of living varies by location. For example, families living in a more remote area or in the North will generally have a higher cost of living, which may lead them to spend more money. There are also limited data available that breakdown the number of family members (i.e., one child, two children, three children). Another challenge with estimating the difference in living costs between family types is because available data tend to be limited to the household expenses families are incurring, as opposed to the amount of money they need to spend. While the amount a family spends will depend on the number of people living in the household, it will also vary based on the family’s income. For example, couple families might spend more money if both adults are in the workforce and they have a larger disposable income. At the same time, household expenses might also be higher for a couple family with two children compared to a lone-parent family with two children because there are more people living in the first household (4 in the couple family with two children versus 3 in the lone-parent family with two children). Note that when there are comparisons between income amounts, the income is presented in constant dollars, meaning that the income amounts have been adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index. Constant dollars provide more accurate results when conducting trend analyses over time since the income amounts reflect their actual value (i.e., not just the price increases of items over time).

A Gender-Based Analysis Plus approach is used in this paper as a tool to help understand the complex landscape of family financial stability. Gender-Based Analysis Plus refers to an appreciation of the unique context of an individual’s life based on how they define themselves by factors such as gender, Indigenous identity, and culture.Footnote 14 This analysis considers how these factors may interact to impact a family’s economic well-being.