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The real state of the Canadian economy

I found this article fascinating, it states that 1/3 of Canadians can't afford their basic expenses.

38 per cent of Canadians apparently have no savings at all.

92 per cent said they found it a struggle (if not impossible) to save money.

On the plus side, 60 per cent of Canadians did have enough savings to cover their living expenses for four months (which to me is only slightly better than nothing). 

Either way you cut it, things keep getting harder on Canadians as a result of the recession and inflation.

Partly why I find this article fascinating is that if you are in PR you may think your audience demographic is different than it really is. If you are making good money in PR (and many PR folks do ok) don't make the mistake of thinking everyone in the world is getting by like you are.

We often assume there's a large middle class out there - the same 'type' of middle class that existed in the 80s and 90s.

Yet what the stats are showing is that, while we may still have a middle class, it's not the same middle class as before. It's one that is pinched and struggling with the basic costs in life.

So when you are messaging to the general media (and hence general public) you have to remind yourself that the world today is not the same one that was out there 10 or 20 years ago. People are facing different challenges and as such their thought processes and responsivity to certain messages will be different.

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