Control, Sufficiency, and Social Support Lessons from Low-income Canadians about Financial Wellbeing

Abstract

This report, Control, Sufficiency, and Social Support: Lessons from Low-income Canadians about Financial Wellbeing, examines how diary participants achieve the financial wellbeing that they have. The evidence we found is that low-income people work very hard to manage their finances. They endeavor to control their finances so that, as one participant said, their finances don’t control them. They must prioritize needs and wants because there is not enough for both. One participant talked about her goal of having a ‘little bit more’ than her needs so that there was a little extra for savings or small purchases or trips. Finally, we saw that family and friends are terribly important for achieving financial wellbeing because social supports can provide loans, gifts, and emotional support. Having a low-income means that banks offer few financial supports. Of course, family and friends also make demands.

Keywords: poverty, personal finances

JEL Classification: I32, G23