Christopher A. Sarlo

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Professor of Economics, Nipissing University

Christopher A. Sarlo is professor of economics at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, as well as a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute. He is the author of Poverty in Canada (Fraser Institute, 1992, 1996), Measuring Poverty in Canada (Fraser Institute, 2001, 2006), and What is Poverty? Providing Clarity for Canada (Fraser Institute, 2008). Some of his recent publications include Understanding Wealth Inequality in Canada, Consumption Inequality in Canada: Is the Gap Growing?, Child Care in Canada: Examining the Status Quo in 2015, and Income Inequality Measurement Sensitivities. Professor Sarlo has published a number of articles and studies on poverty, inequality and economic issues relating to the family.

Recent Research by Christopher A. Sarlo

Thinking About Poverty Part 2: Counting the Poor—The Empirical Evidence

— May 18, 2023

Counting the Poor: The Empirical Evidence is the second part of the Thinking About Poverty series by Senior Fellow Christopher A. Sarlo. The new study finds that three different Statistics Canada models for measuring poverty are broadly consistent: Income poverty for households is in the five to seven per cent range; and for individuals, it is in the four to six per cent range. Critically, the study also measures consumption poverty, which measures what households consume rather than counting their income. This is important because many low-income households will draw on savings, charity, assistance from family, etc. that assists them but doesn’t appear in income statistics. Consumption poverty was less than three per cent of Canadians in 2019, which points to an all-time low for “basic needs” poverty in Canada.

Read the Second Essay - Counting the Poor: The Empirical Evidence

Read the First Essay - Counting the Poor

Thinking About Poverty Part 1: Counting the Poor

— Sep 22, 2022

Thinking About Poverty: Counting The Poor is the first essay in a two-part series that examines the difficulty in measuring poverty in Canada, and in particular spotlights problems with using the Market Basket Measure approach. But because poverty is a serious personal problem for many Canadians, and that it’s also an important social and economic concern that influences government spending and policy, it is crucial to get the measurement of poverty right.

Read the First Essay - Counting the Poor

Does the Canada Child Benefit Actually Reduce Child Poverty?

— Oct 7, 2021

Does the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) Actually Reduce Child Poverty? is a new study that finds the Canada Child Benefit is less effective than the government claims at lifting children out of poverty due to a lack of targeting. In fact, despite spending an additional $5.6 billion in 2019-20, the new Canada Child Benefit only moved an estimated 90,900 children above Statistics Canada’s Low-Income Cut-Off, a key measure of low-income.