An Essay About Poverty In Canada

There has been poverty in Canada for about as long as there has been Canada. Researchers argue about the causes of poverty and how to solve them. But the fact remains that there is poverty in Canada and certain groups in Canadian society are struggling with poverty more than others. This paper is an overall look at poverty in Canada, who is struggling, why and what can be done to alleviate that poverty.

What is poverty?

The definition of poverty is much debated. Absolute and relative are two widely accepted categories of poverty, each with its own definition. According to A Dictionary of Sociology (2009), “Poverty defined in absolute terms refers to a state in which the individual lacks the resources necessary for subsistence.” If we only defined poverty this way, the poverty rate in Canada would be very low. Sociologists usually use the term absolute poverty when

describing third world countries.
The term relative or overall poverty is the term used to describe poverty in developed nations. Peter Townsend (1979) claimed that “individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged or approved, in the societies they belong. Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are, in effect, excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities.” He also explains that measuring poverty this way will change the definition of poverty from one country to another. In other words, what a person living in relative poverty in North America looks like will be different from someone living in relative poverty in Russia will look like.

At the World Summit for Social Development in 1995, they described some of the symptoms of poverty as the
“lack of income and productive resources as sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life.” (United Nations, 1995,).
Using relative poverty is much more appropriate to the type of poverty witnessed in Canada. However, using the term relative poverty still brings forth the issue of just how we go about measuring poverty. The average needs of an individual or family living in southern Ontario in very different from a family living in Northern Saskatchewan. The term relative poverty leaves open the appropriate measures of poverty to interpretation. Therefore, it is difficult to devise a ‘line’ that clearly demonstrates who is representative of the average and who is living below that ‘line’.
Measuring Poverty in Canada
Canada does not have an official poverty line. Statistics Canada is responsible for collecting the data in order to measure poverty in Canada. They have come up two measures of poverty, all of which are based solely on income levels. The measures include the LICO (Low Income Cut Off) both before and after taxes and the LIM (Low Income Measure). They have also been reporting the MBM (Market Basket Measure) developed by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). The HRDC define the components in the basket and Statistics Canada costs out the components. (Income, 2012)
The LICOs were first published 1967 using information that Statistics Canada gathered in the 1961 census (Income, 2012). Statistics Canada (2012) describes the LICO as “income thresholds below which a family will likely devote a larger share of its income on the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family.” The LICOs are based on what the average Canadian family spends on food, clothing and shelter plus a “20% point margin” (Income, 2012). This margin is purely arbitrary, as Statistics Canada feels that anyone spending an extra 20% would be living in what they term ‘straightened circumstances’. They are they varied for 7 different family sizes and 5 different population sizes (Income, 2012). LICOs are produced both before and after taxes. Most researchers choose to use the after tax because it is a better representation of what a family actually has after they have paid mandatory payroll taxes.
According to Statistics Canada (2012) the LIM is the most widely used measure. They describe it as “a fixed percentage (50%) of median adjusted household income, where “adjusted” indicated that household needs are taken into account. Adjustment for household reflects that a household’s needs increase as the number of members increases”. As with the LICOs, the LIM are presented before and after taxes.
The Market Basket Measure is still a measure of low income, however the ‘basket’ represents what a family would need in order to have a basic living. Things included in the ‘basket’ are “food, clothing, footwear, transportation, shelter and other expenses” (Income, 2012). They use what they call disposable income, meaning what money is left after the family pays taxes, any payroll deductions, child support and/or alimony payments, child care fees, and medical costs such as dental, prescription drugs. The measure is adjusted for family and population size. (Income, 2012) What goes into the ‘basket’ will change what the results are. It is difficult to say what a family spends their money on each month. Although there may be two family each with 2 children, the ages of those children makes in difference in what the family needs to buy and how much they need to spend. At best you can only hope to achieve an estimate of what the average family needs to purchase in a month.
No matter what measure used, each comes with its own drawbacks.

For example, all of the measures used in Canada are usually measured at the end of the year. During the year any number of changes might have been made to that family. There may have been an emergency that drained the family’s resources, which of course would not be shown as the measured used are only based on income. There may also be, for example, a single mother of three children who although officially lives off a low income, has the support of her friends and family and feels poverty less than someone without any social support. There is also the assumption that people living above low income lines do not live in poverty. They may receive enough income but may have to pay out more of it because they do not qualify for things like low income housing or other services geared to low income families. Measures of poverty are very useful for governments to decide where to put the country’s resources but they should not be seen as an absolute measure of poverty. Rather they should be seen as measuring poverty is a relative

manner.

Who Experiences Poverty in Canada
According to the Citizens for Public Justice, there are approximately 4.8 million Canadians living in poverty. (Citizens for Public Justice, 2014) No one in the Canada is free from the threat of poverty. Although the government has made some efforts at reducing poverty Canada still maintains high numbers of people living in poverty. There are a few groups of people that are much more likely to experience poverty in their lifetime. Female-lead lone parent families, recent immigrants, aboriginals, youth and seniors are the most numerable in Canada.
The current poverty rate for lone mother families is 33.8%. (Citizens for Public Justice, 2014) Female headed lone parents families are four times more likely to live in poverty than two parent families. (Citizens for Public Justice. 2013) The poverty rate for recent immigrants is 34.2%. (Citizens for Public Justice, 2014) Recent immigrants face discrimination and their credentials are often not recognized, forcing them to take lower paying employment. The poverty rate for aboriginals is 25.3%. (Citizens for Public Justice, 2014) Aboriginals in Canada face long standing discrimination. Programs on reserves fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. While Provincial Governments are making efforts to reduce poverty these programs do not apply to aboriginals living on reserves. While the poverty rate for youth and seniors is 17.3% and 13.4% (Citizen, 2014). Youth face high levels of unemployment at nearly twice the national average and when they do have employment they are the positions are low paying part time employment. The poverty rate for seniors has decreased in the last years due to income supplement programs. (Citizens for Public Justice, 2014)