[Canada] Poverty Myths

from Hamilton Spectator

On Friday, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction reveals its community plan after a year of study and discussion.

In preparation, The Spectator is presenting a daily exploration of poverty in Hamilton and commonly held beliefs about its causes and consequences.

MYTH ONE:

"Welfare lets the poor live well"

Only if you consider living below the poverty line to be good-living. Every province's welfare rate keeps people below the poverty line, one attempt to get people to work.

And rates sure don't keep pace with the cost of living. In Ontario, the 1995 creation of Ontario Works cut welfare 22 per cent (or 35 per cent when inflation is factored in).

As the cost of living rose 25 per cent since 1995, benefits stayed flat. Rates rose 3 per cent in 2005, and another 2 per cent this year, but those were the first increases in 12 years.

So, how well can you live on welfare? Here's how close recipients get to the poverty line, using the 2003 Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) as this line.

* Single people get just 38 per cent of the poverty line;

* Single parents get 62 per cent of the poverty line;

* A couple with kids gets 55 per cent of the poverty line.