Measures of income inequality and social polarization in canadian metropolitan areas

TLDR: In this article, the level of inequality and social polarization of household incomes at the census tract level is assessed for Canada's 22 largest Census Metropolitan Areas. And the proportion of households in middle-income census tracts is declining in most metropolitan centres, lending further support to arguments that Canada's middle class is in decline.

Abstract: Rising inequality and polarization of employment earnings have been clearly documented in Canada and most other developed economies in the 1990s. Following a critical discussion of the use of the Cini coefficient as a measure of inequality in geography, the level of inequality and social polarization of household incomes at the census tract level is assessed for Canada's 22 largest Census Metropolitan Areas. The distribution of household income among metropolitan census tracts is generally becoming more unequal. In addition, the proportion of households in middle-income census tracts is declining in most metropolitan centres, lending further support to arguments that Canada's middle class is in decline. L'augmentation des integalite et la polarisation des revenus d'emploi a ete clairement documentee au Canada et dans la plupart des autres pays industrialises durant les annees 90. A la suite d'une discussion critique sur l'utilisation du coefficient Gini comme mesure d'inegalite en geographie, on evalue le niveau d'inegaliteet la polarisation sociale des revenus menagers au niveau du secteur de recensement pour les 22 plus grandes regions metropolitaines de recensement au Canada. La distribution du revenu des menages parmi les secteurs de recensement metropolitains devient en general plus idgale. De plus, le fait que la proportion des menages parmi les secteurs de recensement d revenus moyens est d la baisse dans la plupart des regions metropolitaines soutient l'idee que la classe moyenne est en diminution.