Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Menzies.
In 1997 the lowest one-fifth of households earned $1,700—this is in 2004 dollars. By 2004 this had risen to $3,000. Now, you can quote whatever fact you want, but in 1989 it was at $3,400. So the recession of the 1990s led to a collapse of income for the poorest. It's not surprising, because the poorest were the ones who became unemployed.
We have seen a steady growth from $1,700 in 1997; $2,300 in 2001; $3,000 in 2004—that's market income. When you put in the stabilizers—and this includes welfare payments, other transfers and the like—per capita income of households in the poorest one-fifth of the population in 1997 was $11,800. It moved to $12,200 in 2004. These are in 2004 dollars, so they've been adjusted for inflation. Again, in after-tax income, including transfers, the figure was a little higher, at $13,200, in 1989.
What we have—and it should be of no surprise—s that there was a collapse of income for the poor in the early 1990s, and there's been a slow climb up. In May we'll have the year 2005, and putting my neck on the line, I predict there'll be a further improvement for the poorest.