Canadian families are still strapped for cash even as inflation cools and interest rates start to trend lower, new polling released Wednesday suggests.
Ipsos polling conducted exclusively for Global News shows that it’s often kids who are feeling the pinch from the rising cost of living.
The survey, which polled more than a thousand Canadians from Aug. 23 to 26, found that more than six in 10 respondents (63 per cent) are concerned they wouldn’t be able to absorb any unexpected costs of $1,000 or more; that figure rises to 72 per cent among parents.
Some 43 per cent of Canadians are worried they might not have enough money to feed their families, which Ipsos notes has dropped 10 points from December last year. But those concerns are still prominent for 54 per cent of parents, according to the poll.
A third of parents indicated they’ve been telling their kids “no” more often to deal with the higher costs of living. Three in 10 parents said they’ve pared back their back-to-school spending, while 16 per cent said they’re cutting back on organized sports for their kids.
Meanwhile, some 63 per cent of respondents are also worried that economic hardship will force them to push back future plans like travelling, buying a home or starting a family.
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Almost half of those surveyed (48 per cent) said they’re worried they won’t be able to pay off their full credit card bill, and a quarter said they’ve been dipping into savings to make ends meet.
Others indicated that they’re continuing to cut back on dining out (55 per cent), putting off purchases like new clothes (43 per cent), paring down holiday spending (36 per cent) and buying fewer fresh vegetables, fruit and meat (27–28 per cent).
The ongoing financial stress comes despite annual inflation levels cooling to 2.5 per cent as of July and after the Bank of Canada trimmed its benchmark interest rate by a cumulative 50 basis points since June.
The central bank has another rate decision slated for Wednesday.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between Aug. 23 and 26, 2024, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
