Refers to the position of a person, economic family, person not in an economic family aged 15 years or over, or household in relation to one of the low income lines.

The income status can be defined in several ways.
Refers to the position of a person, economic family, person not in an economic family aged 15 years or over, or household in relation to one of the low income lines.
In the National Household Survey, definitions were created for six different lines. Five lines were defined by Statistics Canada:

• low-income measure based on after-tax income (LIM-AT)
• low-income measure based on before-tax income (LIM-BT)
• low-income measure based on market income (LIM-MI)
• low-income cut-off based on after-tax income (LICO-AT)
• low-income cut-off based on before-tax income (LICO-BT).

One line was defined by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC):

• HRSDC's Market Basket Measure (MBM).

Reported in: 2011

Reported for: Population in private households and, depending on the definition used, economic families and persons not in economic families aged 15 years and over in private households or, private households.

Question no.: Derived variable

Responses: Below the line - In low income;
At or above the line - Other;
Not applicable.

Remarks: Four dimensions generally distinguish the low-income lines:

• any geographical variations
• aggregation or unit of analysis
• the income variable to test
• equivalence scale for units of different sizes

They are summarily presented in Table 3.1.
Full details are explained in each definition:

• Low-income measure after-tax (LIM-AT)
• Low-income measure before-tax (LIM-BT)
• Low-income measure of market income (LIM-MI)
• Low-income after-tax cut-off (LICO-AT)
• Low-income before-tax cut-off (LICO-BT)
• HRSDC's Market Basket Measure (MBM).

Members of a housheold all share the same income status for the LIM-AT, LIM-BT and LIM-MI.
Members of an economic family all share the same income status for LICO-AT and LICO-BT.

The low income concept does not apply to the full population in private households. For the purposes of low income statistics, units in the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories and Nunavut and on Indian reserves were excluded (see Area of residence - On reserve for the full criteria).

The low income after-tax cut-offs were based on certain expenditure–income patterns which are not available from survey data for the entire population.

It is also felt that in certain areas, the consumption of hunting or fishing products, barter economies or substantial in-kind transfers may reduce the interpretability of income-based measures.

See also Prevalence of low income, Low-income gap and Severity of low income.

Refer to the data quality notes in the Income Reference Guide, National Household Survey, 2011.

Tables 3.1 Summary of low-income lines in the 2011 National Household Survey

Dimensions	Low-income concept
	Low Income Measures (LIM)	Low-income cut-offs (LICO)	Market Basket Measure (MBM)
Geography	One level across Canada	Size of area of residence	49 regions
Unit for income	Households	Economic families and persons 15+ not in EF	Economic families and persons 15+ not in EF
Adjustment factor	Square root of household size	Different lines based on size of economic family up to 7+ members category	Square root of economic family size
Income	After-tax income of households1	After-tax income of economic families4	Disposable income for MBM for economic families and persons not in economic families6
	Household total income2
	Market income of households3	Economic family total income5
Line	Half the median of adjusted income	Income level at which families usually spend 20 percentage points more than the average family on shelter, food and clothing7	Price of the basket of goods and services for the reference family8
Notes:
1For the Low-income measure after-tax (LIM-AT).
2For the Low-income measure before-tax (LIM-BT).
3For the Low-income measure of market income (LIM-MI).
4For the Low-income after-tax cut-offs (LICO-AT).
5For the Low-income before-tax cut-offs (LICO-BT).
6For HRSDC's Market Basket Measure (MBM).
7Based on estimates from the 1992 Family Expenditure Survey adjusted to 2010 dollars with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
8The contents of the basket were defined by Human Ressources and Skills Development Canada, prices were measured by Statistics Canada.

Source: Statistics Canada, Income Statistics Division.

The after-tax income of a household is the sum of the after-tax incomes of all members of that household.

Not applicable

Reported in: 2011

Reported for: Private households

Question no.: Derived variable: Questions 54 and 55

Responses: Positive or negative dollar value or nil

Remarks: For details on the components of total income and on the reference period, coverage and methodology for income data, see 'Remarks' under Total income. See also After-tax income and Household, private.