2011 National Household Survey: Data tables

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Household total income - The total income of a household is the sum of the total incomes of all members of that household.

Total income - Total income refers to monetary receipts from certain sources, before income taxes and deductions, during calendar year 2010. It includes employment income from wages, salaries, tips, commissions and net income from self-employment (for both unincorporated farm and non-farm activities); income from government sources, such as social assistance, child benefits, employment insurance, Old Age Security pension, Canada or Quebec pension plan benefits and disability income; income from employer and personal pension sources, such as private pensions and payments from annuities and RRIFs; income from investment sources, such as dividends and interest on bonds, accounts, GICs and mutual funds; and other regular cash income, such as child support payments received, spousal support payments (alimony) received and scholarships. The monetary receipts included are those that tend to be of a regular and recurring nature. It excludes one-time receipts, such as lottery winnings, gambling winnings, cash inheritances, lump sum insurance settlements, capital gains and RRSP withdrawals. Capital gains are excluded because they are not by their nature regular and recurring. It is further assumed that they are less likely to be fully spent in the period in which they are received, unlike income that is regular and recurring. Also excluded are employer's contributions to registered pension plans, Canada and Quebec pension plans, and employment insurance. Finally, voluntary inter-household transfers, imputed rent, goods and services produced for barter, and goods produced for own consumption are excluded from this total income definition.

After-tax income of households - The after-tax income of a household is the sum of the after-tax incomes of all members of that household.

After-tax income - Refers to total income from all sources minus federal, provincial and territorial income taxes paid for 2010.

Median income of households - The median income of a specified group of households is that amount which divides their income size distribution, ranked by size of income, into two halves. That is, the incomes of the first half of the households are below the median, while those of the second half are above the median. Median incomes of households are normally calculated for all units in the specified group, whether or not they reported income.

Average income of households - Average income of households refers to the weighted mean total income of households in 2010. Average income is calculated from unrounded data by dividing the aggregate income of a specified group of households (for example, two person households) by the number of households in that specific group, whether or not they reported income.

The above concept and procedures also apply in the calculation of these statistics on the after-tax income of households.

Household, private - Refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents) who occupy the same private dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada. Household members who are temporarily absent on May 10, 2011 (e.g., temporarily residing elsewhere) are considered as part of their usual household. Every person is a member of one and only one household.

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Footnote 33

Income status can be measured in several different ways in household surveys. For the standard products of the National Household Survey, the line chosen is a relative measure: the after-tax low-income measure (LIM-AT).

For this measure, the income used is after-tax income of households. There are no regional variations to account for prices or cost of living differences: all applicable households in Canada face the same line adjusted for household size. This line is set at half the median of adjusted household after-tax income. To account for potential economies of scale, the income of households with more than one member is divided by the square root of the size of the household.
All household members are considered to share the household income and are attributed the same income status.

Note:Low-income estimates in the 2011 National Household Survey

For the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), low-income statistics are presented based on the after-tax low-income measure (LIM-AT). This measure is not related to the low-income cut-offs (LICO) presented in the 2006 Census and prevalence rates are conceptually not comparable. Because of the sensitivity of certain income indicators to differences in methodology and response patterns, direct comparisons to establish trends with low-income estimates from other household surveys, administrative programs or the 2006 Census are discouraged. The prevalence rates observed in the NHS at the national level are generally 1 to 2 percentage points higher than seen for similar concepts in other programs. However, analysis of the NHS data suggests that it is valid to compare low-income data for different sub-populations within the NHS (i.e., for different geographic areas or demographic groups). For more information, refer to the Income Reference Guide, National Household Survey, Catalogue no. 99-014-X2011006.

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Footnote 38

The low-income concepts are not applied in the territories and in certain areas based on census subdivision type (such as Indian reserves). The existence of substantial in-kind transfers (such as band housing) and sizeable barter economies or consumption from own production (such as product from hunting or fishing) could have made the interpretation of low-income rates more difficult.

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