Children born in 1970 had an average family income of $40,502 at age 30, compared with $33,683 for their parents. Children born in 1980 had an average family income of $47,189 at age 30, compared with $35,366 for their parents.AndreyPopov/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The majority of Canadians born in the 1970s and early 1980s have fared just as well as their parents if not better, according to a new government study released on Tuesday.
Statistics Canada looked at Canadians who turned 30 between the year 2000 and 2014 and found about two-thirds had a family income that either matched or topped what their parents made when they were the same age.
For example, children born in 1970 had an average family income of $40,502 at age 30, compared with $33,683 for their parents (all incomes in the study were converted to 2015 dollars). Children born in 1980 had an average family income of $47,189 at age 30, compared with $35,366 for their parents.
The study found the absolute income mobility rate, or share of children who earned more than their parents, increased for each cohort born between 1970 and 1977 and then eased slightly because of economic conditions.
"The modest decline across these later cohorts was likely related to the economic recession in 2008 and 2009," the study said.
The study also said children from low-income families were most likely to have a higher family income at the age of 30 than their parents did at the same age. But children whose parents were in the top income brackets were unlikely to fare better than their parents at the same age.
Rachelle Younglai