Poverty reduction strategy

Now that we’ve passed the halfway point of the year, it’s a good time to check out some of the trends reported on in Bearing the Brunt, CPJ’s study of the recession and poverty. How is that recovery coming along?

Statistics reveal a mixed bag – some improving trends, and some discouraging ones. Overall, the picture is less robust than headlines about economic recovery would suggest. GDP may be growing steadily, but recovery has yet to trickle down to those who suffered most from the recession – the poor, economically vulnerable and unemployed. Read more »

Today, there was some good news on the unemployment front in Canada. For the first time since January 2009, the unemployment rate fell below 8%.

Any decrease in the unemployment rate is good news for Canadians, but does this solve the problem of unemployment brought on by the recession? What about support for the unemployed, including those currently without jobs, and in the case of future recessions? Read more »

In the past two and a half weeks, I've chronicled the impact of the recession across the country on this blog, touching on 7 of the 10 provinces. Reports on BC, New Brunswick and PEI have been published elsewhere. Here are the links if you're interested in checking them out: Read more »

Saskatchewan was spared the full force of the 2008-2009 recession, but poverty and economic insecurity in the province still increased. Job losses were comparatively low, giving Saskatchewan the lowest unemployment rate in the country. But social assistance cases still increased 8.4% over the course of the recession. Food bank use and bankruptcies also rose in 2009, as the cost of living jumped significantly in Saskatchewan. Read more »

In many ways, Quebec was spared the worst of the recession’s impact. The province had a comparatively small increase in unemployment, higher than average Employment Insurance coverage, and a relatively low increase in social assistance cases. But despite these general trends, Quebec families still found themselves confronted with greater economic insecurity thanks to the impact of the recession. Cost of living rose sharply, forcing families to stretch their incomes farther, and bankruptcies and food bank use increased. Read more »

Last week I participated in a tele-learning seminar hosted by Tamarack on the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy, Breaking the Cycle. This is the fourth in a nation-wide series on provincial poverty reduction strategies.

Ontario’s strategy is unique in the sense that its specific goals and targets are focused on one particular area- to reduce child poverty by 25% in 5 years. As a result much of the plan’s focus is on child-tax benefits, child care, early childhood education, and training for children and youth. Education and support for children is seen as a key element to breaking the cycle of poverty. Read more »

In many ways, Ontario bore the brunt of the recession. Over half of all jobs lost in Canada during the recession were lost in Ontario. Nonetheless, Ontario had the lowest Employment Insurance coverage in the country. Not surprisingly then, Ontario Works caseloads skyrocketed. Rising cost of living contributed to the rise in poverty, as low income families had to stretch their dollars farther in 2009. The result was an increase in bankruptcies and food bank use. Read more »

While Atlantic Canada was spared the worst of the recession, it couldn’t escape the recession’s impact entirely. Poverty and economic insecurity increased in Nova Scotia as unemployment climbed. Despite high coverage of Employment Insurance, many Nova Scotian families had to turn to social assistance to get by. Cost of living rose sharply in 2009, driving up food bank use and resulting in an increase in bankruptcies in the province. Read more »

In 2007, Newfoundland and Labrador had the third lowest poverty and child poverty rate in the country, due largely to the efforts of its poverty reduction strategy. Unfortunately, despite this huge success, the 2008-2009 recession has increased poverty and economic insecurity for Newfoundland and Labrador families.

Newfoundland and Labrador suffered the second largest increase in unemployment in the country during the recession. Employment Insurance prevented many of these families from turning to social assistance, but Income Support caseloads still increased. The effects of the recession were visible in rising food bank use and an increase in bankruptcies, as the province also had to contend with a significant increase in the cost of living. Read more »