SOME USEFUL FACTS ABOUT CANADA’S TAX LAWS AND CAREGIVERS-FAMILY MEMBERS – these are the most recent numbers available. Slight variations due to updates are likely.

Number of children aged 6 and under (preschoolers)  -2 million

Number of children under age 15 - 6 million

Population of Canada –32 million

Number of families with children at home  - 6.7 million

            -married couples with children at home 5.7 million

            -common law couples with child at home  434,950

            -lone parent families with female head 945,000

            -lone parent families with male head  192,275

Observation: Children under 6 are 1/16 of the population

                           Children under 15 are 3/16 of the population

Birth rate in Canada – 1.07

                        Earlier rates – 1921 – 2.9                 1936 – 2.0

                                                       1945 – 3.0              1956  -2.8

                                            1966   - 1.9             1976 – 1.6

                                                       1986   - 1.4             1996  - 1.2

                                                       2000   - 1.4

                        varies per province  Nunavut 2.53, Ab 11.8

                                                NB 1.02  Ont 1.11

                        varies with incentives

                        went up in Quebec in the 1980s under generous

                        family allowance from 1.39  to 1.6

                        Replacement rate assumed by Canada Pension

                        Plan                           2.1

Life expectancy

                        men 75.8 years    women 81.4 years

Family size:

            3.1 persons per family

Marital status of those over age 14

            -single  never married 29.3%

            -married 59.7%

            -divorced 5.8%

            -widowed 6.1%

Child-rearing styles

                        -parent at home – 32% of children under age 13

                                    This number varies with age of child

                                    eg.   30% of kids 0-3, 32% of kids 3-5,

                                                37% of kids 6-9, 40% of kids 10-12

                                    36% of mothers of kids under 3 have no income

                        -part-time paid employment so one parent at home

                        with child more often than if full-time paid work

                                    32% of women with children

                        -grandma and relative care

                                    4% of kids aged 0-5, 17% of kids 6-9

                                    (24% of kids not with parents are with relatives)

                                    totaling 57,000 grandparents (4.5 million in US)

                        -grandparent full-time care (skip generation family)

                                    57,000 grandparents- jump of 20% since 1991

                        -parents employed full-time

                                    -31% of mothers

                        -at-home dad

                                    6% of families, 77,000 dads (up from 1,000 in

                                    1976)

                        -at-home mom

                                    1.2 million (down from 3 million in 1976)

                        -telecommuters

                                    15% of Canadians, about 1.5 million adults

                                    offered by 85% of biggest US companies

                        -job-sharing

                                    37% of US companies offer it

                        -home-based offices

                                    over one million

                        -temping

                                    tripled in last ten years

                        -self-employed women

                                    11.5% of women

                                    self-employed adults are 16% of paid labor force

                        -free sitter

                                    22% of children under age 13 use this style

                                    sometimes

                        -paid baby sitter occasional    

                                    rates vary but $11/hour is common for those

                                    sitters over 18

                        -nanny

                                    can earn up to $35,000/ year

                        -family dayhome

                                    21% of children aged 0-5  eg. 435,000 children

                        -daycare

                                     12% of children under 12 across Canada

                                    21% of children in Quebec

                                    (depends on age of child –eg

                                    13% of children 0-12 months, 11% aged 18-35 mos

                                    52% aged 3-6 years, 7% aged 6-12 years

                                    Observation: Only about 1/10-1/5 of the nation’s

                                    children are in daycare and of those who

                                    sometimes are, usage is high only for ages

                                    3-6 years

-amount government pays for daycare

                        -Canada - $3.5 billion a year – daycare, kindergarten

                                    and aboriginal children

                        -Saskatchewan – up to $225/month /per child subsidy

                        -Ontario – $9.7 million

                        -Quebec - $8,000 per child per year, (47.50 per day)

                        -government has operating grants and subsidizes

                        child care spaces , staff training, special needs kids

                        and gives wage subsidies all out of general revenue

                        from all citizens

                        Drs. Cleveland and Krashinsky propose a national

                        program at $5.3 billion per year

-payment to foster parents

                        44,600 foster children in Canada

                        -payment from government is $44 a day per child

-amount parents pay for daycare (much of which is deductible)

                        only 13% of households claim the deduction

                        -rates vary per arrangement and with age of

child with dayhomes costing less than institutional

care - $15/day, $160 a month

-typical costs

BC – infant $600/month, preschooler $440/month

Manitoba infant $529/month, preschooler $348/month

                        -rates also vary per province  -

                                                Nfld parent pays 80% of fees

                                                Man. parent pays 33% of fees

                                                Que parent pays 15% of fees ($7 /day)

                        -fees are not adjusted to parental income. 50%

                        of daycare users are from families in the top 30%

income bracket

-salary of daycare worker

                        -varies per province eg. $6 (Nfld- $13 (Ontario) per

hour

                        In 1999 Montreal workers went on strike

                                    to earn $11.41 per hour

                        -annual pay is about $20,000- while industrial

                        average salary is $34,000. Pay for same job

                        description for parent at home is zero, with

                        allowed spousal deduction of $6900

-adult –child ratio in daycare

                        for 3 year olds ratio is 1:7 in Nova Scotia and NB

                        for 3 year olds ratio is 1:10 in PEI and Sask

-income for daycares which operate for profit

                        $1.8 billion per year, of which $1.7 billion is for

                        expenses and $96 million is profit

-daycare staff turnover rate

                        -depends on the centre. –9.3% in Alberta in 2004

                        -has been 15% in PEI and 45% in Alberta in the past

daycare vacancy rates

                 - in Alberta 6,500 spaces of 26,000 are vacant

                    -in BC 62.5% spaces are vacant

-child dependent deduction

                        -abolished – it was at its peak $710 per child in 1984

                        In 1988 it was made a nonrefundable credit and

                        reduced to $470. In 1991 it was $69 per child

-child tax benefit

                        -$2500 per child under 18, ( under $7/ day)

 clawed back depending

                        on household (not caregiver) income. Clawback

                        begins at income of $32,000 and by $67,000

                        income is zero except for larger families

                        -average amount received per family $1960/yr.

                        ($5.36 per day)

                        -its per child amount is reduced in a large family

                        -at income of $120,000 it is zero unless there are

3 children per family, and then it is  $5 per child per

                        month

                        -increases are promised to $3243 by 2007

                        Can Council on Soc Development wants it $4400

                        per child

-national child benefit supplement

                        -only if household (not caregiver) income is under

                        $22,397

                        -maximum is $1293 per child per year($3.45/ day)

                        or $1310 for single parents, $1100 for couples

-family allowance

                        -discontinued. At its peak in Quebec it was $500 for

                        first child, $2500 for second child and up to $8,000

                        for third child

-spousal deduction (for at-home nonearning caregiver spouse)

                        -begun in 1918

                        -peaked in 1987 at $3666

                        -1950s was 1,000 when average income was $3,000

                        -$7131  though basic personal deduction is more

                                    for earning spouses at $7634

                        -spouse can only claim this deduction if income

                        is under $629 for the year, and is it reduced

                        to zero if income is $6923 per year

                        -in Alberta the two amounts are equal at $13,339

                        In NS they are equal at $7142

                        Observation: recognizing the caregiver as an

                        equal partner and a full person has been

                        an issue of contention in tax law

                        -clawbacks of this amount start with very small

                        amounts of earning

                        -Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation wants both

                        personal and spousal exemptions raised to       

                        $15,000. Conservative Alliance party proposed it be                                $10,000 each and Conservatives wanted it $12,000

each rising to 15,000

-earning styles

                        -single earner couple – 21 % of couples

                        -dual earner couples – 64% of couples

                        -single parent -

                        -single earner families – 22.7% of families

                        -dual earner families – 60.5% of families

marital status of parents

                        -1/5 of children are in lone-parent families

                                    (of them 1/5 are widowed, 1/5 are separated,    

                                    1/3 are divorced)

                        -by age 10, 20% of kids have seen parents break up

                                    (60% of commonlaw, 14% of married)

                        -divorce rate is 38% (up from 14% in 1969)

family size

                        1% of families have over 6 children (down from 20%

                        in the 1950s)

                        1/6 of Canadian children under age 14 are

                        the only children in the family

age of first time mother

                        33% are over 30 (up from 20% in 1987)

number of young adults living with parents

            67% of women aged 20-24, 74% of men aged 20-24

-average income of couples with households with children

                        -single parent $33,374

                        -single earner family  $58,085

                        -dual earner family  $70,499

                        Observation- Single earner families have less

                        money than do dual earner families, correcting

                        common stereotype the single earner family

                        is richer

-tax paid on identical household income depending on earning style

            -on $55,000   single earner household pays $7379 tax

                                       dual earner household pays $4230 tax

            -on $100,000  single earner pays $36,643

                                       dual earner pays $25,694

            It depends also on style of dual-earning

            -on $60,000  single earner pays $8783

                                     -dual earner earning $30,000 and

$30,000 pays $6648

-dual earner earning $50,000 and

$10,000 pays $7959

-dual earner earning $36,000 and

$24,000 pays $9513

Observation: on equal ability to

pay there are large differences

in tax, in what is called lack of

horizontal equity

            Observation:  on identical household income single

                        earner household pays 31-66% more tax than

                        dual-earner household over the years

-tax paid on identical household income comparing those with children and those without

            on $80,000   - dual earner couple no kids pays $15,000

                                    -single earner couple with 3 kids pays $18,000

                        Observation:  With vastly reduced ability to pay

                        tax the single earner couple pays more tax than

                        does the dual earner couple with no children