February | 2017 | Financial Fairness For Singles

SINGLES BASHING JUST ANOTHER FORM OF MARITAL STATUS DISCRIMINATION

(These thoughts are purely the blunt, no nonsense personal opinions of the author about financial fairness and discrimination and are not intended to provide personal or financial advice.)

Tomorrow, February 20, is designated Family Day in Canada and was originally created to give people time to spend with their families, but also provides a day off between New Year’s Day and Good Friday as they are approximately three months apart.

It is no surprise that singles still have a hard time being recognized as part of the family. Wouldn’t it be nice if families on Family Day took the time to thank and recognize singles for their contributions to the family unit? The following blog article was recently published in a local newspaper earlier in the month. It was in response to the town council seeking approval for a wage increase for its councillors.

family-inclusionary-or-exclusionary-term

In article ‘Council wages to increase’ one councillor apparently stated another councillor’s perspective on not raising council wages was “perhaps influenced by being a single individual and not yet having to divide his time between a day job, part-time councillor’s job and family”.

Stress is no respecter of marital status and hits singles equally to married and coupled persons. Singles today have great difficulty living on just one salary and no government benefits while constantly having to pay more than families. One example is today’s upside down housing equivalent to “loan shark and pay day loan” status where family values are replaced by greed of business. In one Calgary housing complex smallest 552 sq. ft. micro-condos with starting price of $299,900 equals $543 per sq. ft. while largest 1830 sq. ft. ultra deluxe models priced from $649,900 to $749,900 equals $355 to $409 per sq. ft. Ripple effects are owners of biggest lifetime expense (singles and poor families) proportionately pay more house and education taxes, mortgage interest and real estate fees on less house and less take home pay. Price per square foot of detached family and multi-millionaire housing is usually less than micro-condos. Same premise can be applied to renting.

Singles are not liabilities to family units, they are assets. They help support families by paying education taxes even though they have no children and their EI contributions, even when they have never used EI, help support maternal/paternal leaves of families with children.

Families continually state their hearts are forever changed when they bear their children, yet these hearts appear to become stone when these same children become adult singles. Singles bashing that reduces singles to lowest part of family unit is discrimination based on marital status and is no different than any other kind of discrimination. Single adults are still the children of someone and deserve to be treated with same dignity and respect as any other child of family unit.

Financial, social and emotional intelligence is not defined by marital status, but rather by each person’s belief systems and what he/she was taught and grew up with. Ideal would be less reliance on marital status in family unit equations, but that will never happen as long as married or coupled persons fail to realize singles also have many stresses, just different kinds of stresses to that of families.

discrimination-and-singlism

(This blog is of a general nature about financial discrimination of individuals/singles. It is not intended to provide personal or financial advice.)

CARBON TAX REBATES DONE RIGHT WAY BY NDP FOR FINANCIAL FAIRNESS OF SINGLES

(These thoughts are purely the blunt, no nonsense personal opinions of the author about financial fairness and discrimination and are not intended to provide personal or financial advice.)

(This opinion letter was published in a local newspaper with some modifications as only a limited amount of words are allowed in opinion letters for newspapers.)

(six-reasons-why-married-coupled-persons-are-able-to-achieve-more-financial-power-wealth)

Whether the carbon tax is right or wrong is in the eye of the beholder. However, one thing that is being done right is the NDP carbon tax rebate program. Finally, there is a program which follows semblance of equivalence scales for cost of living.

The NDP 2017 carbon tax rebates will be $200 for one adult household up to net income of $47,500, $300 for two adults up to net income $95,000, $230 for one adult with one child up to net income $47,500, and $360 for two adults with two children up to net income $95,000.

Equivalence (cost-of-living) scales like OECD and square root scales show cost of living is spread out over number of persons in family units, not times number of persons in family units. Needs for housing space, electricity, etc. will not be three times as high for a household with three members than for a single person. With the help of equivalence scales each household type in the population is assigned a value in proportion to its needs. Cost of living for one adult household is more expensive than for two adult household. The StatsCan square root equivalence scale shows that if single adult is equivalent to 1.0, the scale for one adult with one child is 1.4, two adults 1.41, two adults with one child 1.73, two adults with two children 2.0 and two adults with three children 2.24 (full table can be found at statcan).

There never will be a perfect way of doling out dollars including rebate dollars since it can be shown that the more income family units make, the more they will usually spend. In this case, the income level is generously based on net income, not gross income. Winners and losers show net income of $95,000 for two adult family unit is quite generous and are the winners. The $230 rebate for adult with one child with net income up to $47,500 could be considered the losers. This same logic can also be applied to the rebate dollar amounts.

Finally, there is a political party that has attempted to provide a financial program that follows equivalence scales for family units instead of giving more benefits to married or coupled families with children. Such attempts mean more financial fairness for singles never married, no children without giving unequal and multiple boutique tax credits and other benefits to married or coupled family units with and without children.

(This blog is of a general nature about financial discrimination of individuals/singles. It is not intended to provide personal or financial advice.)