On October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, two women joined Dignity for All: the campaign for a poverty-free Canada and the federal All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus to discuss solutions to poverty. The women, who have a lived experience of poverty, spoke to a group of parliamentarians, social justice organizations and community members at the Conference Centre in Ottawa to make sure a clear message was heard: poverty still exists, and there is no reason for this in a country as wealthy as Canada.
One of the speakers, Geraldine King spoke about how she is getting ahead. She found a program that is part of the Employment Insurance system that allowed her to receive benefits while working towards higher education so she could improve her job prospects. A member of the Gull Bay First Nations, and former Canada Without Poverty board president, she is challenging every poverty stereotype, and rightly so.
King recommended that the federal government tap into the knowledge of the "poverty experts" to create a poverty plan -- people who have lived it, know the barriers and know what they need. People don't aspire to be poor, or live without food, adequate housing, or the ability to fully enjoy life, and as King aptly stated "I didn't choose poverty; poverty chose me."
While countries across the world have found themselves struggling with the effects of recession, Canada has fared well during this period and boasted about having the strongest economic growth in comparison to other G7 nations. Yet, despite this over three million people living in Canada struggle in poverty and many of these individuals are employed.
Food Banks Canada reported this week that a record-setting 882,188 people are visiting food banks each month. The report notes that this is 2.4 per cent higher than last year, and a shocking 31 per cent higher than before the recession hit in 2008. Clearly Canada's strong economic record is not telling the whole story. Low-income is cited as the main reason for increased food bank use,
BLOG CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW
"People asking for help are working in low-paying jobs, receiving meagre social assistance benefits, managing on inadequate pensions."
Certain populations remain more vulnerable to poverty than others including seniors, lone-parents, Aboriginal populations, recent immigrants and racialized individuals, and single working age adults. In fact, single individuals are four times more likely to be poor than those who live in families.
The working poor have become a shocking part of the poverty equation with more individuals working precarious or low-paying jobs. This was noted in a recent report Poverty Trends Report Card -- Canada 2012 Citizens for Public Justice. Add to this the reality that long-term unemployment is on the rise and it becomes more apparent that job stability is not a luxury that everyone holds. The report also notes that 40 per cent of families struggling in poverty have one person working, while 12 per cent of poor households have two or more people working.
To make matters worse, women and racialized persons earn less than their counter parts in the work place. Women are now earning only 74 per cent of what men earn, and if you are a racialized woman you earn only $0.53 cents to the dollar compared to a non-racialized man.
Clearly not everyone is getting the same piece of the pie. Ms. King was unknowingly at a disadvantage from the start.
But poverty is more than just low income; is it poor health, social exclusion, lack of opportunity to participate fully in society, and a violation of inherent human rights. Without government support and policy change that takes into consideration the disadvantage of marginalized groups, poverty will continue to plague society. A crucial next step is to develop a federal plan to end poverty.
As the Poverty Trends Scorecard states, "Without an anti-poverty strategy, the progress that Canada has made will erode, diminishing the life chance and opportunities of the poor, and undercutting Canada's future prosperity."
Follow Megan Yarema on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@CWP_CSP
In other words you can never eliminate poverty, just as you can never eliminate crime. The best you can hope for is to find an acceptable level of poverty, a percentage measure. If the percentage rises you can look for external causes & factors, root them out & try to correct them. Recessions would be an external factor that increases poverty for short periods of time. There is little you can do about recessions themselves beyond wait them out & provide additional temperary support as needed.
While there may be a record 882,188 people using food banks each month, few are living in poverty. Food banks typically ask for a valid piece of identification before a person can receive food assistance. Yet the food bank can't verify whether a person is in fact living in poverty. As NGOs Canada's privacy laws prevent food banks from accessing any personal information like tax returns, employment records or banking information to determine they are indeed living in poverty.
A large percentage of those visiting food banks are not living in poverty at all. Many are people with poor money management skills who make enough money if managed properly wouldn't require food bank services.
Does Canada need a poverty strategy, only one that monitors poverty levels so governments can be alerted to any changes & take
Does it have to be? I'm sure we can find a way to deal with it …
Have we ever eliminated a crime, any crime? The answer is of course no & we never will. Poverty like crime is a creation of society, as such they can't be eliminated as long as society remains.
All we can do for poverty is what we do for crime, find that balance. The point at which poverty is at an acceptable level, a level that is manageable.
The closest statistics on never married individuals from statistics Canada is for unattached individuals and the most recent year is for 2008. So, for 2008, we have unattached women under 65 earning an average of 33500$ compared to 42100 for men under 65(over 20% less). Over 65 we have 29500 for women and 37500 for men(again, over 20% less for women). http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2010001/article/11388/tbl/tbl004-eng.htm
The statistics for employment income for all men and women in 2008 gives an average of 21000 for women compared to 37300 for men, over 40% less!
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2010001/article/11388/tbl/tbl005-eng.htm
As for Thomas Sowell, I think his reputation took a dip when he compared Obama to Hitler but I still wouldn't mind reading his study on the pay gap.
And for an article about the incomes of women with and without children that has lots of interesting facts: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2009103/article/10823-eng.htm