Using this unique lifetime perspective, the CIHI study estimates that the top fifth receives 6.6 times as much income before income tax as the bottom fifth. Switching to disposable income, total income less income and payroll taxes, the gap falls to 5.1 times. And when the value of publicly financed healthcare is added, the gap between the top and bottom fifths, again using lifetime income, falls to 4.3 times.
How Canada’s Health System Contributes to a More Equal Society
Using this unique lifetime perspective, the CIHI study estimates that the top fifth receives 6.6 times as much income before income tax as the bottom fifth. Switching to disposable income, total income less income and payroll taxes, the gap falls to 5.1 times. And when the value of publicly financed healthcare is added, the gap between the top and bottom fifths, again using lifetime income, falls to 4.3 times.