Conventional wisdom has it that U. S. society is both richer and more unequal than Canadian society, and that both have become more unequal in recent decades. It is true that earnings inequality increased in both countries from 1974 to 1985. However, in the 1985 to 1995 period, while generally rising in the United States, earnings inequality fell marginally in Canada. At the same time, perhaps surprisingly, polarization-the spreading out of the earning distribution away from the median- fell over the past decade in both nations. Adding in the role of government income taxes and transfers, families' disposable incomes became more equal in Canada, but more unequal in the United States. Finally, a large portion of Canadian families had absolutely higher purchasing power than their U. S. counterparts.
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Andrew Heisz & Andrew Jackson & Garnett Picot, 2001.
"Distributional Outcomes in Canada During the 1990s,"
The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress,
in: Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director & France St-Hilaire, Vice-President , Research & Keith Banting, Di (ed.), The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s, volume 1
Centre for the Study of Living Standards & The Institutute for Research on Public Policy.
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