Exiting Poverty: Does Sex Matter?
Abstract
Abstract
Little is understood about the factors associated with poverty duration in Canada, or which factors, if any, may affect women and men differently. Moreover, research pays scant attention to how far Canadians transition out of poverty. For example, some may exit poverty only marginally, while others exit much further above the poverty line. We investigate the determinants of poverty duration among women and men in Canada. A major contribution of this article is the examination of poverty duration across different exit destinations (competing risks): exits to just above the poverty line versus exits to further above the poverty line. We find that nearly one-quarter of poverty spells end within 110 percent of the poverty line (near poverty). Many of those who exit to near poverty experience multiple spells. As expected, we find that higher education increases the probability of transitioning further out of poverty, but very little is correlated with exits to near poverty relative to remaining in poverty. The longer the poverty spell, the lower the probability of exit, particularly to higher income levels. We find few significant gender differences in the coefficient estimates. Differences are present in the characteristics associated with exits close to or further away from the poverty line.
Résumé
Nous savons peu de choses sur les facteurs liés à la durée de la pauvreté au Canada et sur des facteurs qui pourraient avoir un effet différent chez les hommes et chez les femmes. De plus, la recherche s'intéresse peu à tout ce qui entoure la sortie de la pauvreté au Canada : par exemple, certains Canadiens ne s'éloignent que légèrement du seuil de pauvreté, alors que d'autres réussissent à avoir un revenu réellement supérieur au seuil de pauvreté. Dans cet article, nous explorons les déterminants de la durée de la pauvreté chez les hommes et chez les femmes au Canada. L'une des contributions majeures de cette recherche est que nous y examinons la durée de la pauvreté en lien avec différents scénarios de sortie de la pauvreté, vers un revenu légèrement au-dessus du seuil de pauvreté et vers un revenu réellement supérieur au seuil de pauvreté. Nous montrons que près d'un quart des périodes de pauvreté se terminent par une sortie qui se situe autour de 110 pour cent du seuil de pauvreté (donc très près de la pauvreté) ; et plusieurs Canadiens qui en sortent de cette façon vivent de nombreux épisodes de pauvreté. Nos résultats, prévisibles, indiquent qu'un degré supérieur de scolarité augmente la probabilité d'une sortie de la pauvreté vers un revenu réellement supérieur au seuil de pauvreté, mais que peu de facteurs sont associés à une sortie de la pauvreté vers un revenu légèrement au-dessus du seuil de pauvreté. Par ailleurs, plus les périodes de pauvreté sont longues, plus la probabilité d'en sortir est faible, et particulièrement vers un revenu réellement supérieur au seuil de pauvreté. De plus, les coefficients ne permettent pas d'établir de réelles différences entre les sexes ; il y a toutefois des différences dans les caractéristiques associées à une sortie de la pauvreté vers un revenu légèrement au-dessus du seuil de pauvreté et vers un revenu réellement supérieur au seuil de pauvreté.
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Canadian Public Policy
Volume 40 • Number 2 • June 2014
Pages: 126 - 142
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© Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques.
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Published online: 1 January 2014
Published in print: June 2014
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