2. Definition of Poverty
• “The experience of material and social
deprivation that prevents individual,
communities and entire societies from
reaching their full potential.” (Raphael,
2007, p. 6).
• Income and wealth inequality
3. How should poverty be defined?
• Relative poverty - compares incomes to
average incomes in that society
• Absolute poverty - resources to pay for
basic needs (food & shelter)
• Being excluded or marginalized from the
standards of living available to the average
income-earning Canadian
4. How is poverty measured?
• Poverty line > Statistics Canada Low
Income Cut-Off (LICO)
• Income level that below it, individuals
would spend a larger share of their income
on basic necessities
– 55% of income vs. ~34% of income
5. How is poverty measured?
• Depth of poverty - how much income
would it take to raise individual/family to
the LICO
• Poverty duration - length of time someone
experiences low income
6. Poverty in Canada
• 3.2 million Canadians lived below LICO in 2009
– 9.6% of all Canadians
• Same number of people had incomes that moved
above LICO, as moved below LICO
• Depth of poverty - 26% below LICO
• Duration of poverty - 60% of Canadians living in
poverty, it is temporary
– For 40% of those living in poverty it is more enduring
– 5% - they lived in poverty for > 10 years.
7. What causes poverty?
• Income distribution across a nation.
• Income equality vs. inequality
• Top income earning group - 40% of the total income generated by
Canadians
– Bottom income group - 6% of the total income
• Top 2 income earning groups - 65% of total income generated by
Canadians
– Bottom 2 income earning groups - 18% of total income
• Above figures from 1996 > in 2004, the total income of top earning
group has risen by almost 20%
• The rich are getting richer!
• OR, income inequality is increasing
8. What causes poverty?
• Cost of living - cost of goods generally rises
• Those whose incomes have not risen, actually
paying more of their income for the same goods
• Low social assistance & income assistance
benefits
• Trends in the types of jobs available
• Wage trends
• Groups of people at risk
9. Job Trends Contributing to
Poverty:
• More temporary or part time jobs being
created
• Secure full time jobs with benefits are
disappearing
• In the “new economy”, jobs are in the
service sector - retail, hospitality industries
10. Job Trends Contributing to
Poverty
• 2007- 194, 000 or 50% of families experiencing
poverty had a major income earner with full time
work
– Average income was $23,500
• Single individuals experiencing poverty, 306,000
or 28% had full time work
– Average income was $10, 400
• “Working poor”
• Lack of consistent minimum wage standards
11. Poverty impacts some groups
more than others:
•
•
•
•
•
Women
Aboriginal individuals
People of colour
People with disabilities
Recent newcomers to Canada
12. Child Poverty
• Between 2002 & 2007, 23% of all children (1.4 million) living in poverty at least one year in 6.
– 107, 000 lived in poverty for all 6 years.
• Impacts child growth & development
• When parents had a higher level of educational attainment
> opportunities for earning higher than poverty-level
income. This may provide:
– Access to play items likely to lead to optimal development
– Lowered stress of parents
– Access to neighbourhoods that are a safer physical & social
environment
13. Child Poverty
•
Educational outcomes associated with
child poverty:
1. Lowered receptive vocabulary scores
2. Almost 50% more likely to have cognitive
difficulties
3. 45% more likely to experience behavioural
difficulties
14. Child Poverty
•
Health outcomes associated with childhood
poverty:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Higher probability of health problems
Higher infant mortality rate
Lower birth weight babies
Growth delay
More likely to have asthma & other chronic diseases
More likely to visit hospital emergency departments
More likely to die from injuries
15. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Material & Social Deprivation:
• Food insecurity
– Food bank usage > 25% of those accessing the Daily Bread Food
Bank are employed, the rest receive social assistance
• On average, people accessing the Daily Bread Food Bank,
had $5.67 left over after paying rent and utility bills.
• Half of those accessing DBFB had not eaten for a whole
day in the past, and half of these people did so “almost
every month”.
• 43% identified not being able to afford nutritionally
balanced meals
16. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Material & Social Deprivation:
• Housing:
– 2004 - the proportion of renters spending more
than 30% on housing was ~42% in Toronto.
– The proportion spending more than 50% was
20%
>high risk of homelessness
17. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Material & Social Deprivation
• Homelessness:
– A state of having nowhere to live
– Can be “hidden homeless” > couch surf
– Use of homeless or family shelters
• Housing crisis > exacerbated by the lack of affordable
housing
• Not only is subsidized housing not being built, rent
controls (regulations to control rent increases) have been
relaxed.
• Wait lists in Hamilton for subsidized housing were at >
4000 applicants long in 2005.
• Housing also needs to be adequate - not in need of major
18. Impact of Experiencingn
Poverty: Material & Social
Deprivation:
• Health outcomes:
– Cardiovascular disease is 3 times higher for
those living in poverty
– Incidence of heart attack - 2.5 times higher in
the lowest income level than in the highest
– 1 year survival rates 82% for those in the upper
income level, & 76.4 for those in the lowest
income level
– Slower access to specialists
19. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Material & Social Deprivation:
• Health outcomes:
– Rate of diabetes is higher - 4 times greater for women
in lower income communities than those in higher
income communities
– For men in lower income communities, 40% higher rate
than middle income earning men, & 50% higher than
men in higher income communities
– Higher incidence of death due to mental health
disorders amongst those living in poverty
– Life expectancy> men 2.8 years less for those in lowest
income communities compared to men in the next
income earning group
>5 years less than those in the highest income earning
20. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Material & Social Deprivation:
• Inequality of opportunities - culture,
recreation & leisure: areas of deprivation
– Access to leisure, recreation & cultural
activities is a determinant of health
– Cost money, and tend to be not affordable
– Recreation pursuits > health behaviours that
may make people less vulnerable to health
concerns
21. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Experience of Stress
• Associated with being able to meet basic
needs, social needs
• Worry about this on a daily basis
• Where will money come from to cover
some costs that are unexpected?
• Stress involved with “going without”
22. Impact of Experiencing Poverty:
Experience of Stigma
• Blame
• Seen as “undeserving”
• Feelings of degradation - internalized public
sentiments
• Lowered self-esteem effects of stigma
23. Readings:
•
National Council on Welfare (2010). Duration of poverty. Poverty Profile 2007.
Ottawa: National Council on Welfare.
•
National Council on Welfare (2010). Education & poverty. Poverty Profile 2007.
Ottawa: National Council on Welfare.
•
National Council on Welfare (2010). Paid work and poverty. Poverty Profile 2007.
Ottawa: National Council on Welfare.
•
National Council on Welfare (2010). Sources of income. Poverty Profile 2007.
Ottawa: National Council on Welfare.
•
National Council on Welfare (2010). The dollars and sense of solving poverty. Poverty
Profile 2007. Ottawa: National Council on Welfare.
Above profiles all retrieved from site for National Council on Welfare
http://www.ncw.gc.ca/
