Poverty - a Canadian Perpective

Poverty

A Canadian Perspective

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One of the features of a market economy, like Canada's , is that the market mechanism sets the income levels of individuals, and income levels can vary widely. When someone's income falls below a certain point, where they can no longer afford basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter, and lack basic social and societal benefits, we consider them to be living below the poverty line. While the definition and measurements of poverty vary, there is a social consensus in Canada the people should have a basic minimum standard of living and that social policy and programs are the tools used to try to identify and address the problems of poverty. This is made more complex in Canada, where all three levels of governments and a number of non-government organizations play a role in dealing with poverty.

Poverty - the word brings vivid images to our mind: pictures of starving and unhealthy children and families from underdeveloped countries. This is but one picture of poverty. Here in Canada, an essentially rich country, poverty exists, but the images are different. What images do we see here in Canada? Images of social inequalities, undernourishment and poor health are just of a few of many images that come to mind. In a wealthy country, such as Canada, we need to ensure that Canadians have a minimum standard of living. This standard should include basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing and social inclusion and must include incentives to work and be contributing members of society.

How does Canada measure poverty? In order to measure poverty, first Canada must define poverty, and secondly, provide a consistent and meaningful way to measure it. Currently there are several ways to measure poverty in Canada, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. However, without a meaningful definition, eliminating poverty becomes a difficult task. In order to assist in eliminating or at least reducing current poverty levels in Canada, one must first understand the roots and causes of poverty. Research demonstrates that unemployment, lack of education and divorce are some of the key reasons that poverty exists in Canada. To develop goals, policies and initiatives to help eliminate or at minimum reduce poverty, an understanding of responsibilities and the key players is essential.

The Canadian federal governments set the goal in 1989 to eliminate child poverty in Canada. Who is responsible to achieve this goal? Responsibility is shared between the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government as well as the people in the community, who must assist, at some level, whether it's participating in developing social policies or donating food to a food bank.

Defining and measuring poverty are closely intertwined. In order to have an accurate measure of poverty the government must first be able to define what constitutes as poverty Currently the government of Canada does not have an official definition of poverty (Hay, 2009).. According to Ivan Fellegi from Stats-Canada, it is the politicians responsibility to provide a definition of poverty (Monsebraaten, 2007). A definition is important as it will assist in determining what course of action, goals and strategies can be used, firstly in measuring poverty, and secondly in creating and implementing a plan of action to reduce poverty. There are several problems in defining and then measuring poverty: do we include only the necessities to exist; or do we include other aspects, such as social inclusion, political and cultural facets? (Ruggeri Laderchi, Saith, & Stewart, 2006, Dec).

The most common understanding of poverty in the industrialized countries has been based on monetary income, or the lack thereof, along with the inability to purchase the essentials (food, shelter and clothing). Based on this definition, a low level of monetary income is the main cause of poverty, which limits the ability to spend money on the "essentials". The measure of poverty based on "income" is commonly used as the data is easily and readily available. This income indicator describes the overall economic state of the household. Monetary income limits the ability of households to purchase a variety of items considered essential. If they are unable to obtain these necessities, they are seen as poor (Sarlo, 2008). When assessing poverty, there are two main approaches, each with several variations. The absolute approach, where the goal is to provide the basic needs including food, clothing, shelter, furnishing, health costs, personal hygiene items, allows for a variety of family sizes as well variations in cost depending on geographical location. However this approach does not allow for a change in the basic needs (Sarlo, 2008). Many consider this absolute approach, where only the basic essentials are obtained, as being insufficient, and that a more relative approach is required. A relative approach includes the basic needs, but also reaches ahead and goes several step further to include other resources such as material items, and even social demands (Townsend, 2006). The relative approach can be described as the physical well-being, along with social and psychological considerations. One negative aspect of using the relative approach is that physical and social needs change quickly within a rapidly changing society. The needs and material possessions required one day may be totally different the following year, leaving the relative approach to be socially determined and inconsistent (Townsend, 2006). It is fair to state that though there is no actual definition from the Canadian government on poverty, that currently we measure poverty according to income (Fukuda-Parr, 2006).

Measuring poverty is as ambiguous as defining it. In lacking a definition of what "poor" is, and the stigma associated with either "being poor" or "living in poverty", Canada's solution is not to measure "poverty" but to focus in on low income levels. This in turn does not measure poverty, but identifies those worse off than the average Canadian (Fellegi, 2007, Sept). Currently in Canada, while there are three ways that the Canadian government uses to measure "income", the most common measures to compare are: the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO), the Low Income Measure (LIM) and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). Although none of these measurements actually measure poverty, they are widely used to report on the trends of families that are relatively worse off