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Adjusted income for economic families and persons not in economic families

Part A - Plain language definition:

Not applicable

Part B - Detailed definition:

Refers to economic family income that has been adjusted by a factor that accounts for family composition and size. The adjustment factor takes into account the lower relative needs of additional family members, as compared to a single person living alone, and is determined by using a scale that assigns a decreasing value to the second and subsequent family members. The adjusted family income is then computed by dividing the family's income by the sum of the factors. Multiple equivalence scales are used in published data. The one chosen for use with the census income data assigns the following factors:

1. the oldest person in the family receives a factor of 1.0
2. the second oldest person in the family receives a factor of 0.4
3. all other family members aged 16 and over receive a factor of 0.4 and
4. all other family members under age 16 receive a factor of 0.3.

For persons not in economic families, the adjusted income is set at total income. This is equivalent to a factor of 1.0 for a person not in an economic family.

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