Literature Review – Canadian Poverty – August 2007 Version
Bre Walt
For the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, “Growing Gap” Campaign

Working Poor
In Canada, about 34% or one-third of children living in poverty are in families where at least one parent has worked full-time for the entire year.  In 1993, this percentage was 27%, meaning it rose 7% in just 13 years (Report Card 2006 3).  This trend comes despite strong economic growth and job creation in Canada.  Families are not being given the chance to make enough money to lift themselves out of poverty.  About one in every four Canadian jobs pays less than $10/hour, and two in every five jobs are either part-time, temporary, contract or self-employment (Report Card 2006 3)

The working poor make up the second largest group of food bank users, coming in at 13.4% in 2006 (Education and Research 1).  41% of poor families in 2001 had at least one family member working 910 hours in the year.

In 2000, the average income for low-income earners was $10.341, which is $80 higher than 10 years earlier (NAPO 2006 2).  Evidently, wages are increasing at a very slow rate, driving more full-time workers into poverty.  
Social Assistance Recipients
In 2006, 53.6% of Food Bank users were welfare recipients (Education and Research 1).  Welfare rates have been known to fall below the poverty line, and statistics such as the one above show that social assistance is not adequate for survival.   Welfare rates for all territories and provinces are well below the poverty line according to the National Anti-Poverty Organization and in 2002, most recipients in Canada saw a decrease in welfare income compared to previous years.

Rural Poverty
Many of Canada’s rural communities are located in prime agricultural areas, yet hunger continues to be a problem in these communities of less than 10,000 people each.  More than 55.1% of those living in rural communities rely on social assistance as their main source of income (Hunger in Rural Canada 3).  The Canadian Association of Food Banks (CAFB) notes that, of the food banks that participated in the 2006 Hunger Count, more than half of them were located in rural communities. 

325 of the 638 food banks that participated in the CAFB’s Hunger Count 2006 are located in rural communities which have populations of 10,000 or less (Hunger in Rural Canada 3).  In March 2006 alone, 65,387 people received groceries from food banks in rural communities and since 2000, 62 new food banks have opened within these population areas (Hunger in Rural Canada 3).  Given the small populations and frequent food supply shortage, food banks are not even always available to assist those in rural communities.  In March 2006, 36.4% of food banks in rural communities had to deal with food shortages by taking measures such as turning clients away, closing early, buying food and giving lower amounts of food to clients (Hunger in Rural Canada 3).

Hunger and insecurity about food supply are huge issues in rural communities, given their geographical locations.  These communities are further away from large cities, which can make it difficult for people to access social services.  The rural population has a greater need for cars, but this is often an unaffordable expense (Hunger in Rural Canada 3).  Furthermore, in small, rural communities there are limited employment opportunities compared to large metropolitan centres.  

Persons with Disabilities
The child poverty rate for those with disabilities is 28% (Report Card 2006 2), and of all Canadian food bank users in 2006, persons with disabilities made up the third largest group.  In 2004 alone, 25% of people with disabilities were poor (NAPO 2006 4).

Seniors

Canada is much better then many countries at ensuring an adequate standard of living for the elderly.  The poverty rate for people in Canada aged 65 years and over is the third lowest of all 24 OECD countries because of Canada’s concerted policies for seniors instituted in the 1970s (Campaign 2000 – Sept.2004 3, 5).

However, that does not mean that our seniors are not living in poverty to a large extent.  Female seniors are in a worse position in that 40.9% of those living alone are in poverty, while 31.6% of senior men living alone are in poverty.  Overall, 38.3% of all seniors that live alone are in poverty.
Children

Almost one child out of every six, or 1.1 million children are living in poverty within Canada as of 2006 (Report Card 2006 (Campaign 2000 – Sept. 2006 4).  As of 2006, 40,000 more children under the age of 18 were living in poverty than in 1990 (NAPO 2006 2).  In the 25 years before 2006, the child poverty rate never dropped below the 1989 level of 15%, which is when the House of Commons resolved to end child poverty (Canada’s Child Poverty 1).  There have been fluctuations in numbers of course, but Canada has not overcome the difficulty of over 1 million children living in poverty. 

About half of these low-income children in Canada (52%) are living in lone parent families (Report Card 2006 2).  In 2006, 41% of food bank clients were children, despite the fact that 17 years prior, the federal government had promised to eliminate child poverty (Hunger Facts 2006 3).  In fact, as of 2006, 317,242 children were relying on food banks (NAPO 2006 3).  The change in the number of hungry children from 1989 to 2006 is +157,917 (Hunger Facts 2006 3). 

According to Campaign 2000, children in poverty are more likely to suffer from health problems, display learning disabilities, perform poorly in school, drop out of school and grow up to live in poverty (Campaign 2006 – Sept.2006 4). 
Families

From 1984 to 1999, the net wealth of the top 20% of couples with children increased by 43% while the net wealth for couples with children who were below the poverty line decreased by 51%. In 2004, things got worse. That year, the richest 10% of families earned 82 times more than the poorest 10%.  This is almost triple the ratio of 1976, when they earned 31 times more. In after-tax terms the gap is at a 30-year high (The Rich and the Rest of Us 1).

The average two-parent low-income family needs an additional $10,400 per year on top of their regular income, to bring them up to the poverty line (Report Card 2006 2).  Two parent families, on average, are still living below the poverty line, to the same levels as 11 years ago in Canada (Report Card 2006 2).  The incomes of the richest 20% of families rose by about 10% between 1990 and 2000, while the poorest 20% of families have experienced stagnating incomes (Campaign 2000 – Sept.2006 3).  

Paying the rent and feeding one’s children is a hard job for low-income families given that 66% of them are living in unaffordable housing, meaning that it accounts for over 30% of their monthly income (Campaign 2000 – Sept.2004 4). 
Young families are also in a difficult position with low incomes and few job opportunities.  Furthermore, increased survival costs are a factor in the poverty rates of all families.  In families where the youngest adult is under the age of 25, the poverty rate was 46% in 1997 compared to 22% in 1981 (NAPO 2006 4).  For families with the youngest adult between the ages of 25 and 34, the poverty rate was 18.9% in 1997, which is up from 12% in 1981 (NAPO 2006 4). 

Lone Parents
According to statistics for 2006, the average single mother family would need an extra $9,400 on top of regular earnings, to bring them up to the poverty line (Report Card 2006 2).  According to the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO), the poverty rate for lone-parent families in Canada dropped below 50% in 2006, for the first time in 2006.  This is due to some higher incomes and increased government transfers.  However, this does not change the fact that 38% of women raising families alone are living in poverty (NAPO 2006 2). 

Women

Canada has one of the highest rates of labor force participation by women in the OECD, with almost eight million children in Canada having a mother in the paid work force.  Yet, in 2003 only 800,000 regulated child care spaces were available (Campaign 2000 – Sept. 2004 7).  According to the Coalition for Better Childcare, as of 2006 there were 1,224,800 children under the age of 12 with mothers in the workforce, in Ontario.  Yet in that same year there were only 206,743 regulated childcare spaces available in Ontario (Child Care Fact Sheet 2006 1).

Trends in literature show that women are consistently living below their male counterparts, whether they are young, single, married, widowed or senior.  Women and children are said to make up 83% of Canada’s minimum wage earners (NAPO 2006 2).  In fact, 2.4 million women or 1 in every 5 are living in poverty (NAPO 2006 2).  Of women over the age of 65, 45.6% are poor, while 40% of women under 65 are also poor.  According to NAPO, of the women that immigrated to Canada between 1991 and 2000, 35% are poor, which is slightly less than the 37% of visible minority women who are poor.  The average yearly income for aboriginal women is $13,300 compared to $18,200 for aboriginal men and $19,350 for non-aboriginal women (NAPO 2006 2). 

-Child Care Fact Sheet 2006 provided by the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare
Immigrants
According to the 2001 census, 49%, or one in every two children in recent immigrant families are living in poverty (Report Card 2006 2).  As of 2006, 231,000 children with at least one parent who is a recent immigrant live in poverty.  Accordingly, children in families where one parent is a recent immigrant rose from 27% to 33% between 1990 and 2000. 
The rate of low income immigrant families in Canada has risen from 23% in 1980 to 35% in 2000 (Fighting Poverty Fighting Racism 1).  This is despite the fact that immigrants are four times more likely than Canadian-born individuals, to have a university degree.  Yet, 31% of immigrants with a university degree are employed within Canada in low-skill jobs.  Moreover, the employment rate of recent immigrants has fallen from 78.2% in 1980 to 68% in 2000, and in 2000 only 50% of recent immigrants were working full-year, full-time compared with 75% of Canadian-born.  Literature also shows that the salaries of recent immigrants have been dropping – in the 1970s and 80s, their salaries were 85% of Canadian-born and in the 1990s they were down to 60%.

Above paragraph – information provided by “Fighting Poverty, Fighting Racism”
Visible Minorities
The 2001 census shows that 34% of children in racialized families are poor (Report Card 2006 2).  Furthermore, the 1996 Census showed that 36% of visible minority groups are poor (NAPO 2006 3). 

In 2001, the unemployment rate for visible minorities was 2% higher than that of all Canadian workers. 
In 2002, 10.7% of visible minority men earned less than $30,000 a year compared to 7.9% of all other men.  Visible minority women continued in 2002 to remain behind other women in every salary bracket (Current Employment Equity Situation 1). 
Literature shows that visible minorities are underrepresented in many areas.  In 2001, 26% of visible minority families were living in poverty, compared to the national poverty rate of 12.9% (Current Employment Equity Situation 1).
-Current Employment Equity Situation in Canada (HRDC)

Aboriginal peoples
Compared to one in every six children in Canada living in poverty, in First Nations communities it is one in every four children (Report Card 2006 1).  Furthermore, for off-reserve aboriginals, 40% of the children are living in poverty (Report Card 2006 2).  46% of Aboriginal children under the age of 15 live with a lone parent.  There are other startling trends among First Nations communities, despite the fact that they are a young, vital community.  One in eight First Nations children are disabled, which is double the rate among all children in Canada.  43% of children in First Nations communities need basic dental care, and this statistic rises as you enter more isolated communities.  According to Campaign 2000, in order to reduce child poverty among first nations communities, issues of housing, economic development, education and all other areas that would be needed to provide a safe and supportive environment for children for Aboriginal children, need to be addressed (Canada’s Child Poverty 1).

47% of those living on a reserve are below the poverty line (NAPO 2006 4).

Overcrowding in First Nations communities is double the Canadian rate, over half of their homes contain mould, and nearly 100 of these communities must boil their water before use (Report Card 2006 4). 

Overall, in 1995 55.6% of Aboriginal people living in Canadian cities were poor and 55.9% of Aboriginal people in Canada were poor as of 2001 (NAPO 2006 3). 
For Aboriginal youth between the ages of 15 and 24, 74.8% were poor in 2000, compared with 74.7% of those who lived off-reserve (NAPO 2006 4).  Furthermore, 69% of Aboriginal people live off-reserve, yet Federal Aboriginal programs provide little benefit for these individuals (Canada’s Child Poverty 1). 
Food Bank Use
In just one month of 2006, 753,458 people used one of Canada’s 649 food banks.  Furthermore, in one month alone, 2.9 million meals were served in food banks.  Since 1997 food bank use has risen by 13.4% and since 1989 it has risen by 99.3%.  In 2006, 34.5% of food banks in Canada had difficulty meeting their demand.  Of food bank users surveyed by the Canadian Association of Food Banks in 2006, 13.4% received their primary source of income from employment and 53.5% from social assistance.  
*National Food Bank Use Statistics courtesy of the Canadian Association of Food Bank’s “Hunger Count 2006”

Poverty by province (comparison between all provinces)

Ontario

Ontario is the province that assists the largest share of food bank recipients – 330,491 to be exact.  And in fact, from March 2005 to 2006, Ontario saw the smallest decline of all provinces in food bank use – it dropped by 2.4% (Hunger Count 2006 23).  Based on the 2001 census, Ontario had a poverty rate of 14.4% or 1,611,505 people (2001 Census).

Quebec

Child poverty rates have been steadily declining since 1997, and this is likely due to the package of family support benefits that was introduced in 1997.  In March 2006, food bank use in Quebec dropped by 26.7% over the previous year (Hunger Count 2006 24).

Nova Scotia
From March 2005 to March 2006, food bank use in Nova Scotia dropped by 8.4% (Hunger Count 2006 26).  In 2003, 10.7% of people living in Nova Scotia, lived in poverty (Contemporary Family Trends 26).

Alberta

The child poverty rate has fluctuated between 14%-15% since 1999.  In March 2006, food bank use in Alberta dropped by 15.1% over the previous year (Hunger Count 2006).  The 2003 poverty rate in Alberta was 11% for all persons, based on after-tax incomes (Contemporary Family Trends 26).

Manitoba

From March 2005 to 2006, food bank use in Manitoba dropped by 3.7% (Hunger Count 2006 22).  In 2003, the after-tax poverty rate was 12.4% in Manitoba (Contemporary Family Trends 26) and the child poverty rate in 2004 was almost 1 in 5, or 19.2% (Winnipeg Harvest 1).

Newfoundland & Labrador
The child poverty rate is 23.1%.  In 2006, they introduced poverty reduction strategies that included a long-term plan, financial investments and progress measurement commitments.  Newfoundland has the highest per capita food bank use of 5.6% (Hunger Count 2006 25).  The poverty rate in 2003 for all persons, after taxes, was 11.9% (Contemporary Family Trends 26).
New Brunswick
From March 2005 to 2006, food bank use in New Brunswick dropped by 6.7% (Hunger Count 2006).  The poverty rate in 2003 was 9.4% (Contemporary Family Trends 26).

British Columbia
British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate, which is 23.5%, due to the large number of working poor families in the province.  Furthermore, in 2003 British Columbia had the highest provincial poverty rate for all person, after taxes, of 15.1% (Contemporary Family Trends 26).

Who’s doing better than Canada?

The United Kingdom: A Poverty Profile

The United Kingdom, in 1999, set out a twenty-year goal to end child poverty with reductions of 25% by 2004 and 50% by 2010 (Campaign 2000 Sept 2006 5).  In 2004, the UK government confirmed that it is on track to meet its goals, since the number of children in low-income households fell by about 500,000 (Campaign 2000 Sept 2006 5).  The goal is for the UK to completely eradicate poverty by the year 2020, which they are well on their way to doing (Solving Poverty 4).  They have additional targets to strengthen early learning education, affordable housing, and health services.  They are also striving for increases to the minimum wage and child benefits.  The UK government used the tax system to increase substantially – a rise in real terms of 72% – its tax credits and child benefits over a seven year period, from 1997-2004 (Campaign 2000 Sept 2006 5).  While the lowest paid workers in the UK have benefited from salary increases above average in recent years, at the same time, economic growth has remained healthy.