To show you how generous Justin Trudeau’s administration was during the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Canadian households reported a higher “median total income” in 2020 than in 2019.
gotta do it! And that’s largely thanks to the $56.2 billion the federal government has disbursed in Canadian emergency relief and economic recovery benefits; the $41.7 billion increase in employment insurance; and the $75 billion in emergency wage subsidies given to businesses.
According to data compiled by Statistics Canada, the median total income(1) of couples reached $109,900 in 2020, or $6,500 more (+6.3%) than in the economically normal 2019.
For single people, the median total income rose to $39,100, up $2,500 (+6.8%).
Trudeau’s generosity
To fully appreciate the gains in median total income recorded in 2020, I would like to remind you that these gains were made when Canada’s GDP fell by 5.4% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, gains in 2020 are entirely due to the great generosity of the Trudeau administration, which spared no expense to counteract the financial fallout of COVID-19 on Canadian households.
As proof, in 2020, average government transfers paid to Canadians reached the mammoth $21,300 for couples and $11,600 for singles. Compared to 2019, this was an increase in government assistance of $11,100 (+108.8%) for couples and $8,700 (+300%) for singles.
This enormous additional financial support came mainly from the various federal funding programs.
less poor
In defense of Prime Minister Trudeau, who has been criticized for being too generous during the pandemic, the number of people living below the poverty line has fallen in 2020, according to the Market Basket Measure.
For example, according to Statistics Canada, the number of poor people aged 18-64 among those living alone fell from 33.6% in 2019 to 27.1% in 2020. Among couples, the number of poor in the 2020 pandemic year was 3.5% compared to 7.1% in 2019.
Among households with children under the age of 18, the number of single-parent families headed by a woman living below the poverty line has decreased significantly, from 28.6% in 2019 to 16.9% in 2020.
Of the two-parent families, about 3% lived below the poverty line in 2020, compared to 7% a year earlier.
Note: Median income represents the level of income that divides a population into two equal groups, half of which have higher incomes and half have lower incomes.
