EXCERPTS:
The gap between rich and poor in Canada is widening, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The top 10 per cent of Canadians earned 10 times as much as the bottom 10 per cent, the Paris-based think tank said Monday.
The highest group made on average $103,500 a year in 2008 while the lowest group made $10,260 a year, the OECD said.
That's up from a ratio of 8 to 1 in the early 1990s, the organization said in its latest survey of income inequality among its 34 member nations.
Canada's wage gap is above the OECD average of 9 to 1 but still below that of the U.S., where the gap is 14 to 1, according to the report, called Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising.
Canada is not alone.
The gap between rich and poor across the OECD has reached its highest level in more than 30 years, the agency said, as it called on governments to do more to address the chasm.
"The social contract is starting to unravel in many countries," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. "This study dispels the assumptions that the benefits of economic growth will automatically trickle down to the disadvantaged and that greater inequality fosters greater social mobility. Without a comprehensive strategy for inclusive growth, inequality will continue to rise."
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The benefit system in most countries has become less effective in reducing inequalities over the past 15 years, the report found as eligibility rules were tightened to cut spending on social programs.
"There is nothing inevitable about high and growing inequalities," said Gurría. "Our report clearly indicates that 'upskilling' of the workforce is by far the most powerful instrument to counter rising income inequality. The investment in people must begin in early childhood and be followed through into formal education and work."
-reprinted from the Toronto Star