Based on data from the 2006 census, this study disaggregates child poverty statistics and identifies three tiers of poverty for children in Canada. In particular, it finds that Indigenous children in Canada are over two and a half times more likely to live in poverty than non-Indigenous children. According to the report, Indigenous children trail the rest of Canada’s children on practically every measure of wellbeing: family income, educational attainment, crowding and homelessness, poor water quality, infant mortality, health and suicide.
Inequality and poverty
Hennessy's Indexis a monthly listing of numbers, written by the CCPA's Trish Hennessy, about Canada and its place in the world. Scroll down for a PDF version. For other months, visit: http://policyalternatives.ca/index
1.57 Trillion
In 1998, when I became executive director of Toronto’s The Stop Community Food Centre, the small urban food bank was like thousands of other cramped, dreary, makeshift spaces — a last-hope refuge where desperate people could stave off hunger for one more day with a hamper filled with wilted produce and packaged foods. In spite of the best efforts and intentions of generous volunteers, for food bank users, knowing that this was their best bet for a meal was a humiliating experience.
This series of fact sheets is based on the report Women's Poverty and the Recession by Monica Townson (September 2009), and addresses the following issues:
Women and child care
Women and the Harper government
Women and welfare
We've heard a lot about government spending recently. The Liberals released their "spend-o-meter" charting the supposed overspending of NDP promises, and the NDP's response has been to assert their careful spending. What neither of them are saying is that government spending has the potential to be an investment for British Columbians. It can rebuild the social supports that British Columbians need, improve economic productivity and save money in the long-term.
It was a welcome change to hear politicians of all stripes talking about poverty in the lead up to the 2013 provincial budget and in the analysis that followed. Unfortunately much of the chatter will serve the interests of politicians more than those most affected by government decisions.
Work should lift us out of poverty.
It's a simple aspiration, an equation many of us believe in, but one that eludes far too many Canadians.
At last count, 1.8 million people working in this country were not earning enough to pull themselves and their families out of poverty. That includes 540,000 employed full-time, working full-year around, but still living on incomes below Statistic Canada's low income cut-off. They are Canada's working poor.
On April 30, 2013, CCPA Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan was among the witnesses who testified to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance as part of the committee’s ongoing study of income inequality. This publication is the transcript of her presentation to the committee. In it, she gives us cause to consider what inaction on income inequality could mean, and shares some recommendations on how the federal government can play an important role in offsetting growing income inequality and the problems it unleashes.
On Christmas morning this year, how many children in Canada will wake to find no toys from Santa, no new clothes or shoes to replace their threadbare garb, no turkey dinner cooking in the oven, no joyful celebration of the annual Christian feast?
Income inequality in Canada is on the rise—especially in the country's largest cities. CCPA analysis of new data finds the richest 1% of Canadians make almost $180,000 more today than they did in 1982 (adjusted for inflation), while the bottom 90% of Canadians saw income gains of only $1,700.