Pwgsc contract # C1111-080943. 001Cy amend.#001 Por registration # por 063-08

6.2Monthly Expenses

Sport-related expenses have gone up by almost 50 per cent, according to athletes, when comparing figures reported in 2009 with those reported in 2004. Other categories have gone up much less over the five year period. Overall, athletes are spending about $500 a month more (mostly on sport-related expenditures) than they were in 2004. (All figures for 2004, 1997 and 1992 have been changed into 2008 constant dollars for the purposes of comparison). There are some limitations in the comparison, however, because “other” is a new category in 2009 and in 2004 sport-related expenses was asked as an annual figure and then divided by 12 for the purposes of analysis, whereas in 2009 it was asked of athletes as a monthly figure which may have resulted in an inflation of the number. That said, it is interesting to note that the total amount that the expenses have increase in 2009 from 2004 is about $110 higher than the amount that the AAP stipend went up late in 2004.

Considering the average income of just under $30,000 and the expenses of about $3,300 a month, athletes seem to be facing a monthly shortage of about $830 per month or $10,000 a year. In deed when average deficit is calculated based on reported income minus expenses (times 12) the average is about $8,500 a year. This gap is smallest among athletes who are married with no dependants.