Persistent Poverty

In this same-day analysis of the 1996 low income estimates from Statistics Canada, the Caledon Institute concludes that the poverty figures are worse than they appear.  While the number and percentage of Canadians with low incomes edged up only slightly between 1995 (5,205,000 or 17.8 percent of the population) and 1996 (5,294,000 or 17.9 percent of the population), poverty increased in both years in spite of economic growth and job creation. Moreover, poverty deepened in 1996: The average low-income family slipped from $7,851 below the poverty line in 1995 to $8,215 below the poverty line in 1996.  The main culprit is a decline in the market incomes of low-income households (i.e., income from employment, private pensions, savings and investments, and other non-governmental sources of income), due largely to the growth of “nonstandard jobs” (often unstable, part-time and low-paid).  Belt-tightening changes to Employment Insurance and reductions to welfare benefits in several provinces have contributed to the growing depth of poverty.

ISBN – 1-894159-00-4