Just a few decades ago, a one-income middle-class family in North America could afford a house, a car, and a university education for their children. It was almost an article of faith that generations would become successively better off. Readers old enough to remember those days might well rub their eyes now. Regular nine-to-five jobs with benefits are increasingly scarce, replaced by the “gig economy” and the “job churn.” Young people, often saddled with student debt, struggle to pay the rent, never mind saving for a house. Real wages have stagnated. Government “austerity” has eroded the social safety net. And though abject poverty has lessened because of various policies and programs, inequality increased to an all-time high last year — while Canada’s collective wealth has also never been higher.
What happened? How did it come to this? And what is to be done?
Alex Himelfarb, once the top public servant in Ottawa — Clerk of the Privy Council and...
John Baglow reads and writes in Ottawa. His latest poetry collection is Murmuration: Marianne’s Book.
Advertisement
Advertisement