By Canadian Press

Government benefits helped lower-income households afford rising cost of living: PBO

Jun 22, 2023 | 8:57 AM

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget officer says lower-income households maintained their purchasing power despite high inflation with help from government benefits.

A new PBO report today analyzes how the purchasing power of households at different income levels changed between the final quarters of 2019 and 2022.

The report says all households saw an increase in purchasing power over those three years, rising by five per cent overall.

That is despite a rise in inflation that peaked at 8.1 per cent last summer.

But for households in the bottom 20 per cent of income, employment earnings were not enough to address the rising cost of living.

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The report says those households relied on government transfers to make up the difference.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2023.

The Canadian Press