Poverty in Canada

Poverty in Canada remains prevalent with some segments of society. The measurement of poverty has been a challenge as there is no official government measure. There is an ongoing debate in Canada about whether a relative measure of poverty, or absolute measure of poverty, is more valid. The new 2011 book Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life provides an overview of the Canadian scene.[2]

Currently, an income inequality measure known low income cut-off published by Statistics Canada is frequently used as a poverty rate and is 10.8% as of 2005. It is used by statistics collators like the Central Intelligence Agency in lieu of an official measure, noting that a relative measure results in a higher poverty figure than an absolute one. The Fraser Institute, a conservative think-tank, alleges that the federal Canadian government exaggerates poverty rates, and publishes their own measure, known as the basic needs poverty measure. According to this measure, poverty has declined significantly over the past 60 years and is 4.9% as of 2004. Statistics Canada has refused to endorse any metric as a measure of poverty, including the low-income cut off it publishes, without a mandate to do so from the federal government.

Some elements that work towards reducing poverty in Canada include Canada's strong economic growth, government transfers to persons of $164 billion per annum as of 2008, universal medical and public education systems, a progressive income tax system, and minimum wage laws in each of the provinces and territories of Canada.

In recent times, after a spike in poverty and low-income rates around the 1996 recession, relative poverty has continued to decline. Certain groups experience higher low-income rates. These include children, families with single-parent mothers, aboriginals, the mentally ill, the physically handicapped, recent immigrants, and students.

History of poverty in Canada

See also: Economic history of Canada and The Great Depression in Canada

Canada's history is marked by identified periods of growth and recession, and an evolving response of government intervention to assist low-income Canadians.

Reflecting the practice in the British Isles, organized assistance to the poor was largely the realm of churches. In the early 20th century, the Catholic Encyclopedia reported that there were eighty-seven hospitals in Canada under the control and direction of various Catholic religious communities.

After the Great Depression, Bennett and Mackenzie King spurred the first stages of Canada's welfare state, and the size and role of the government began to grow immensely over the next decades. Many social programs developed during this time designed to increase the Canadian citizen's quality of life.

At the end of the Sixties, Statistics Canada estimated that the number of Canadians living in poverty (using measurements drawn up by Jenny Podoluk) had fallen from about 25% of the population in 1961 to about 18% in 1969.

In recent years, newly arrived immigrants have higher than average low-income rates, although each immigrant arrival cohort year experiences a declining low-income rate over time.

Measures of poverty in Canada

Further information: Measuring poverty

Canada has no official poverty measure because Statistics Canada has stated that unless politicians express a social consensus on the definition of poverty, there will be no measure because they feel that it is not Statistics Canada's role to determine what constitutes a necessity. There is a debate on whether an absolute or relative measure is more useful. An absolute measure of poverty can provide insight on deprivation, or the inability to provide for basic needs, while a relative measure of poverty encompasses the issues of social exclusion and inequality.

Some researchers and governments instead use multiple measures to measure the depth and extent of poverty in Canada.

Absolute poverty measures

Basic needs poverty measure

Further information: Basic needs

Source: Fraser Institute

The basic needs poverty measure is designed to be a poverty threshold measure. It was developed in 1992 under the auspices of the conservative and libertarian Fraser Institute by economist Chris Sarlo. According to the latest update "the basic-needs approach is partly absolute (the list [of necessities] is limited to items required for long-term physical well-being) and partly relative, reflecting the standards that apply in the individual's own society at the present time."

The measure is based on various data sources including Statistics Canada's databases (for example Survey of Household Spending) and CMHC housing information to determine the cost of a list of household necessities (food, shelter, clothing, health care, personal care, essential furnishings, transportation and communication, laundry, home insurance, and miscellaneous) for various communities across Canada and then, based on family size, determines how many households have insufficient income to afford those necessities. Before 2004, the determination of the poverty rate was based on pre-tax income inclusive of government social program income such as welfare, employment insurance, and old-age pensions. Taxes were not particularly relevant as households at or beneath the poverty rate would pay little or no income tax. More recently, the after-tax incomes have been used as the indicator of household well-being. Like most measures, it is based on reported income and is therefore subject to error related to unreported employment and the underground economy.

The measure is based on various sources of historical income data. The basic needs poverty rate has fallen dramatically over the past 51 years, and as of 2004, was 4.9%, representing 1.6 million Canadians.

Market basket measure

The Government of Canada's Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada constructed their own absolute measure through the creation the Market Basket Measure (MBM) in 2003. The MBM costs a broader range of essential goods and services than the Fraser Institute measure. MBM thresholds take into account community size, location and household and composition, estimating the disposable income required to meet basic needs. Forty eight Canadian communities have been included in the measure.

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador are now developing a market basket measure which is more granular, costing out a set of basic goods in over 400 communities in the province.

Relative poverty measures

Further information: Economic inequality, Income inequality metrics, and Relative deprivation

Relative poverty measures, the most prominent being income distribution measures, also known as income inequality metrics, reveal information about disparities of income within a population. So, for instance, if a society becomes richer, even those in the bottom income bands may see their incomes rise as well. A measure which accounts for this rise is known as a "relative measure of poverty." Each measure has its own strengths and weaknesses.

In lieu of an official poverty measure, the LICO is regarded as a poverty measure by various groups. It has been referred to as "the most accepted measure" of poverty. Internationally, the Low Income Measure and the Gini coefficient are a prominent income distribution metrics.

Low-income cut-off (LICO)

Source: Statistics Canada

Low-income cut-off (LICO) rates are often quoted by the media as a measure of poverty even though Statistics Canada has stated it is not a poverty measure. It is also used by statistics collators like the Central Intelligence Agency in lieu of an official measure, although the CIA also notes that it "results in higher figures than found in many comparable economies."

The measure has been reported by Statistics Canada since the 1960s. They were reported only in their "pre-tax" form until 2000, at which point Statistics Canada started to publish both pre and after-tax LICO rates. After-tax LICO rates have been retroactively calculated back to 1986. The measure is intended to represent an income threshold 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. As of 2008, 9.4% of Canadians are in a family whose income is below the after-tax low-income cut-off.

There are 7 family sizes and 5 community sizes, resulting in 35 total LICO groups, each one evaluated on a pre and after-tax basis (70 calculations in total). The LICO is currently set at 63% of the average family income within each group. This stems from the 1992 Family Expenditures Survey, which showed the average family spent 43% of its after-tax income on food, shelter and clothing, plus Statistics Canada added an additional 20% margin.

Statistics Canada prefers using the after-tax LICO over the pre-tax LICO "to draw conclusions about [families] overall economic well-being"; however, the pre-tax measures are needed depending on the study being conducted because some sources of data, such as the census, contain only pre-tax income information. It can also be useful to know the pre-tax income profile of groups before the effects of progressive tax rates.

Low Income Measure

The Low Income Measure is a purer measure of relative income. It is defined as 50% of median income, adjusted for family size. In effect, this measure indicates the percentage or number of people in the bottom income quartile.

It is considered an especially useful measure for international comparisons, and is popular with anti-poverty groups and some foreign governments (e.g., Ireland). It results in a higher measure of poverty compared to other measures. In 2006, it was estimated to be 19.6% for children on an after-tax basis.

Gini coefficient

Gini coefficient, income distribution by country.

Main article: Gini coefficient

The Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion most prominently used as a measure of inequality of income distribution or inequality of wealth distribution. It is defined as a ratio with values between 0 and 1: the numerator is the area between the Lorenz curve of the distribution and the uniform distribution line; the denominator is the area under the uniform distribution line. Thus, a low Gini coefficient indicates more equal income or wealth distribution, while a high Gini coefficient indicates more unequal distribution. 0 corresponds to perfect equality (everyone having exactly the same income) and 1 corresponds to perfect inequality (where one person has all the income, while everyone else has zero income). The Gini coefficient requires that no one have a negative net income or wealth.

Serious consideration of the Gini coefficient for public policy implications is rare in Canada. Discussion of income inequality in the Canadian media generally implies that income inequality should be continually reduced as an objective, whereas international economists evaluating Gini coefficients generally focus on the idea of targeting an optimal range for the Gini coefficient. Some researchers have suggested the optimal Gini coefficient range is about .25-.40 (Wolfgang Kitterer, 2006, More Growth through Redistribution?). As of 2004, the Gini coefficient for Canada was estimated to be 0.315 on an after-tax basis.

Poverty Reduction

Several Canadian provinces are introducing poverty reduction strategies, following the examples set by the European Union, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba are all developing provincial strategies. Quebec and Manitoba have enshrined their efforts in legislation. Newfoundland & Labrador has established a provincial ministry. Ontario has set a cabinet roundtable to address child poverty, as per the Liberal's campaign promise.

Because of these moves, each province is exploring the development of a measurement tool to track any progress made on reducing poverty, such as the use of a Deprivation Index.

Assistance for poor people in Canada

Government transfers and intervention

Reduced tax burden

See also: Income taxes in Canada

The Canadian income tax system is highly progressive. This can be seen by comparing the 2005 pre-tax low-income cut-off rate of 15.3% with the after-tax rate of only 10.8%. It is also evident in the Gini coefficient, which was estimated to be 0.428 on a pre-tax basis but only 0.315 on an after-tax basis.

Social programs

See also: Social programs in Canada

Canada has a wide range of government transfers to persons, which totaled $176.6 billion in 2009. Some of the transfers designed to assist low-income people in Canada include Welfare and Old age security. There is also an extensive mandatory Employment Insurance program designed to assist workers who have become unemployed to lessen the chance of them falling into poverty.

In addition to government transfers, there are number of other publicly funded services and social programs that benefit those with low-incomes like Medicare, Public education for grade school; subsidized post-secondary education, Subsidized housing, and Employment equity programs, which often target various groups of people who are deemed to be susceptible to having low-incomes.

Working income tax benefit

See also: Welfare trap

Introduced in 2007 to encourage low income people to keep working rather than quit to rely on certain social programs that could be more profitable, a tax credit of $500 is given to all individuals earning between $3,000 and $9,500 per year. The benefit is transitioned to zero at $12,833. Those with spouses or another dependent can claim the higher $1,000 amount if combined they earn between $8,000 and $14,500, after which it declines to zero at $21,166.

Child credits

Main article: Child tax credit

Low-income Canadians are eligible for the Canada Child Tax Benefit (a federal benefit), and provincial child tax credits or benefits and Québec family allowances. For example, Ontario pays a benefit scheduled to grow to $180 per month by 2011 for a family earnings less than $20,000 with two children. These credits are not taxed (see Income taxes in Canada#Income not taxed).

Minimum wage laws

Main article: List of minimum wages in Canada

Under the Constitution of Canada, the responsibility for enacting and enforcing labour laws including minimum wages in Canada rests with the ten provinces, the three territories also having been granted this power by virtue of federal legislation. This means that each province and territory has its own minimum wage. The lowest general minimum wage currently in force as of April 1, 2012 is that of Yukon ($9.27/hour), the highest is that of Nunavut ($11/hour). Some provinces allow lower wages to be paid to liquor servers and other tip earners, and/or to inexperienced employees.

Although listed here under assistance, some theories suggest that minimum wage laws are a net detriment to low-income people as a whole, because they reduce the attractiveness of hiring low-skilled staff (see Minimum wage#Debate over consequences).

Non-governmental assistance

Private Charity

A number of non-denominational and religious organizations operate homeless shelters, food banks, and other forms aid for low-income Canadians. Some of the most prominent charities and religious organizations in Canada providing direct assistance to the poor include the Canadian Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and United Way of Canada. Governments are a significant contributor to charities in Canada, most notably through tax deductions.

Advocacy Groups

A number of direct action organizations exist in Canada to assist the poor in fighting for their civil liberties. These groups (such as the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty in Toronto, the Downtown Eastside Residents Association in Vancouver, and the Ottawa Panhandlers' Union in Ottawa) generally organize at a grassroots level, bringing the poor together in solidarity to struggle for better conditions.

See also

• Poverty by country

Further reading

• Coon, Garson George (1998). Examining beliefs about the causes of unemployment and poverty: An analysis of the causal models from the research literature (D.S.W. thesis). Wilfrid Laurier University. {{cite thesis}}: External link in |title= (help)
• Jeffery, Heather Elizabeth (1999). The construction of homelessness as a social problem: Linking contributing factors, mediating factors and interventive strategies (M.S.W. thesis). Wilfrid Laurier University. {{cite thesis}}: External link in |title= (help)
• Morrison, Susan M. (1992). Mothers and Other Making Change: Empowerment through self-help and social action (M.A. thesis). Wilfrid Laurier University. {{cite thesis}}: External link in |title= (help)
• Roberts, Alison J. Rice (2001). A qualitative study of presently and formerly homeless female adolescents (Ontario) (M.A. thesis). Wilfrid Laurier University. {{cite thesis}}: External link in |title= (help)
• Raphael, Dennis (2011), Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life, 2nd edition, Canadian Scholars' Press, ISBN 1551303949 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthor= (help)
• Snyder, Linda L. (2000). Women's employment initiatives as a means of addressing poverty: A comparative study of Canadian and Chilean examples (D.S.W. thesis). Wilfrid Laurier University. {{cite thesis}}: External link in |title= (help)

External links

• Stats & Facts, Canadian Council on Social Development