Friday, April 07, 2006

[Canada] Poverty levels falling, report says

from The Globe and Mail

Not every individual benefits, but trend is 'going in the right direction,' Statscan says
JILL MAHONEY

SOCIAL TRENDS REPORTER

Ana and Francisco Vasconcelos have three children and a two-bedroom apartment. They never know whether they'll be able to pay the rent on time because they work as casual nursing aides for $10 an hour. Sometimes they get several shifts a week, sometimes they get none.

The immigrants from Angola have been on a waiting list for public housing since they moved to Toronto six years ago.

"It's really difficult, it's really hard for a family," said Ms. Vasconcelos, 34, who is looking for another job.

A new report showing that low-income rates fell in Canada was of little comfort to the Vasconcelos family yesterday.

Fewer people slipped into poverty and more were able to escape its clutches, according to the Statistics Canada study, which indicates significant economic mobility among the poor.

The reduction in the number of Canadians who had trouble making ends meet -- which fell to 11.2 per cent in 2004, down from 14.3 per cent in 1994 -- is largely because of the thriving economy. About 3.5 million people were poor two years ago, compared with 4.6 million in 1996.

"A high tide lifts all boats. The benefits are seen across the income spectrum. I think the one important caveat to that is it doesn't mean every single individual benefits, but the trend is going in the right direction," said Sangita Dubey, chief of Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics.

The report measured the number of Canadians who fell below Statscan's low-income cutoff as well as those who rose above it. (The agency does not have an official poverty line. Instead, it uses a "low-income cut-off" line. People who fall below the line are likely to see an above-average share of their income eaten away by the necessities of housing, food and clothing.)

In 2004, 3.3 per cent of people who did not have low incomes the year before slid into poverty, down from 10 years earlier when 5.5 per cent of people had dropped below the line.

At the same time, more people rose above the cut-off. In 2004, 34 per cent of people who had low incomes the year before left poverty, up from 28 per cent in 1994.

"Low income is a revolving door -- people go in, people go out and in the last 10 years more people have been going out than coming in," Ms. Dubey said.

While one in five people experienced poverty for at least one year between 1999 and 2004, just 2.2 per cent had a low income for the entire six-year period. By contrast, nearly one in four had low incomes between 1993 and 1998 and 3.6 per cent were poor the whole time.

However, anti-poverty groups warned that the picture is not all rosy -- even for full-time workers, one in seven of whom had a low-wage job in 2004. One in five breadwinners earning low wages (defined as less than $10 an hour) in 1999 lived below the cut-off line for at least two years between 1999 and 2004. Only Alberta and Saskatchewan had significant declines in the number of poorly paid workers between 1993 and 2004.

"We've still got a big share of our labour market that is very low-waged and that's an issue we still have to deal with," said Ron Saunders, director of the Work Network, which is part of the Canadian Policy Research Networks.

Jacquie Maund, co-ordinator of Ontario Campaign 2000, which is working to end child and family poverty, said many people dip in and out of poverty because they cannot find decent jobs.

"In many cases when they're getting work, it's short term, it's precarious work, it doesn't necessarily have benefits. So it's not necessarily stable enough to permanently lift them above the poverty line," she said. "There's a lot of fluctuations below and above the poverty line."

Last week, Statscan also released data showing that median family income after taxes in 2004 was about 2 per cent higher than a year earlier, after adjusting for inflation.

The bottom bracket

Individuals and families can fall into the low income bracket with the loss of a job, birth of a child, a family breakdown, marriage, and many other factors. They emerge from the income category for many reasons as well.

Length of stay in poverty

At least one year

1993-1998: 24.5%

1999-2004: 20%

Two or more years

1993-1998: 16.6%

1999-2004: 12.3%

All six years:

1993-1998: 3.6%

1999-2004: 2.2%

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

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