More Canadians are struggling to pay their monthly bills, survey finds – National
A new poll suggests nearly half of Canadians are living paycheck to paycheque as the cost of living crisis continues to squeeze household budgets, and younger people are more likely to say their finances are in poor condition.
It also suggests that the Conservatives, which hammer home a message about affordability, are gaining popularity, with 38 per cent of those polled saying they would vote for the Conservatives if an election were held today.
And support for the Liberals, who focused their recent ministerial retreat on the housing crisis, is down.
Leger’s poll found that 47 percent of respondents say they live paycheck to paycheque, including 53 percent of those ages 18 to 35 and 57 percent of those ages 35 to 54.
The poll suggests high prices are hitting people in Atlantic Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan the hardest. More than half of respondents in these regions say they get by with every paycheque, compared to 38 per cent of Quebecers and 42 per cent of the population. of British Columbia.
Sixty percent of respondents described their household finances as good or very good, while 36 percent said their finances were bad or very bad. Another four percent said they weren’t sure.
People over 55 were the most likely to say they were doing well compared to younger age groups, and more men than women said their finances were healthy.
Almost half of respondents under the age of 35 said they feared losing their job in the next year, 47 percent, compared with 35 percent of those aged 35 to 54. Men were more worried about losing their jobs than women, according to the data. Concerns were highest in Ontario and lowest in Quebec.
Younger people were also the most likely to say they think Canada is in an economic recession. A total of 61 percent of survey respondents answered yes to this question, while 16 percent answered don’t know and 23 percent answered no.
Leger surveyed 1,597 Canadians last weekend. No margin of error can be attributed to the poll, as online polls are not considered truly random samples.
It also suggests that support for the Conservative party is at 38 percent, three percentage points higher than in the last poll at the end of July.
It continues a trend that has seen the Conservatives rise in Leger polls since late May, when they were at 31 per cent, and puts support for the party four points higher than it has been in recent years. federal elections in 2021.
Support for the Liberals among decided voters was nine points behind the Conservatives at 29 percent, the same as in July, and the NDP was the top choice for 18 percent of those polled. Support for the New Democrats fell two points from July.
Still, 34 percent of those polled say they are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. Twenty-four percent say they are somewhat dissatisfied, while 35 percent say they are very dissatisfied.
Only 35 percent of women surveyed said they were satisfied with the government, while 57 percent said they were dissatisfied.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
