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TAKING AIM AT POVERTY
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
One in six people in Ontario lives in poverty.
Ontario is a wealthy province and yet a shrinking social-safety net and sluggish economy have led to increasing numbers of people living in poverty. One in four workers in Ontario-more than one million people-earns poverty wages.
Despite increases in the cost of living, minimum wage in Ontario has been frozen at $6.85 per hour since 1995. In 2001, the poverty line for a single person living in a large city such as Ottawa was $18,841. In contrast, the annual income of a person working 35 hours per week at minimum wage was $12,467-more than 33 percent below the poverty line. To earn poverty wages, a person working full time needs to earn at least $10 per hour.
Social assistance rates in Ontario have been slashed by 21.6 percent. Cost-of-living increases make that cut equivalent to approximately 34.4 percent today.
Poverty is a harsh reality for most of the more than 400,000 Canadians on social assistance. Child and family poverty, in particular, continue to rise: 23 percent of children in Ottawa live in poverty; in 2001, families were the fastest-growing users of emergency shelters. In addition, cuts to social programs have contributed to increases in youth crime as well as rising numbers of children in foster care.
Food bank use has doubled since 1989, and 41 percent of users are children under 18.
More than 10 percent of Canadian households-more than three million people-find it difficult to put food on their tables. Reports show that relief organizations in Ottawa provided 20 percent more meals and hampers this year than in 1998.
High levels of poverty have profound societal effects.
Children from low-income families are at higher risk for health and learning problems in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. They are also less likely to achieve their full potential as contributors to Canadian society..
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