The article mentions that most of these people are severely disabled:
The article mentions that most of these people are severely disabled:
These working-age single adults make up to 38 per cent of all food-insecure households in the country with 61 per cent of them severely disabled living alone below the poverty line, the report said.
That actually makes the situation worse, IMO. :( Disability payments in this country are abysmally low, and people relying on them are living well below the poverty line as a result... which the...
That actually makes the situation worse, IMO. :( Disability payments in this country are abysmally low, and people relying on them are living well below the poverty line as a result... which the recent rise in prices has only made worse! E.g. Ontario raised the ODSP payments by 5% last year, but it's still not nearly enough after years of neglecting the program:
The most a single person can receive through ODSP is $1,169 per month, or $14,028 annually. That's about 30 per cent below the province's poverty line of roughly $20,000. The gap is even more pronounced in some urban centres. Monthly payments are 47.5 per cent short of the municipal poverty line in Toronto.
A five per cent increase would mean another $58.45 per month for a single person who qualifies for the maximum ODSP payment — still nowhere near the provincial poverty line. Adjusted for inflation, the payment would still be less than what recipients were getting on former premier Mike Harris's last day in office in 2002, according to an analysis by economist Mike Moffatt.
Bensley adds that he hopes more money becomes available for housing. As it stands now, $497 is meant for those costs. There are few cities left in Ontario where a one-bedroom apartment can be rented for under $900 per month, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
BTW, they ultimately did decide to only raise it 5%. Fuck Ford.
Effective today, ODSP benefit rates will increase by 5%.
This 5% applies to both basic needs and shelter amounts, board and lodge rates, and sponsored immigrants. Services provided in long-term care homes will also be covered.
The new basic needs amount for a singles is $706, up from $672.
The new shelter amount for a singles is $522, up from $497.
The new total benefit amount for singles is $1228, up from $1169.
Clients can expect to see this increase in the cheques at the end of September.
While this is the first rate increase in three years, this increase is inadequate.
ISAC will continue to advocate for a parallel increase to Ontario Works (OW) rates, and for both OW and ODSP rates to be doubled immediately so that our clients can afford basic necessities.
Fuck Ford indeed. My mother was a social worker so I learned first hand how poorly we treat our disabled in Ontario and how little we give them. She spent most of her time finding them food and...
Fuck Ford indeed. My mother was a social worker so I learned first hand how poorly we treat our disabled in Ontario and how little we give them. She spent most of her time finding them food and housing.
Now with inflation it is much worse. Ford is sitting on a pile of cash and doing nothing but trying to figure out how to enrich himself and his cronies.
We know food insecurity leads to a higher mortality rate. It's just so endlessly depressing living under Ford.
The dark irony of this is that it effectively means she had less time to spend helping those people in other ways... Losing more money for everyone in the process. Sometimes giving more in welfare...
She spent most of her time finding them food and housing.
The dark irony of this is that it effectively means she had less time to spend helping those people in other ways... Losing more money for everyone in the process.
Sometimes giving more in welfare means giving less. Unfortunately the neoliberal political atmosphere over the past few decades has seen many corners cut on welfare. Costing society more and more... And eventually this happens. People struggling with their basic needs over less-than-useless political gains. :/
Couldn't agree more. A lot of the people she helped also required mental health support but getting them off the street and fed always took priority out of necessity. It's a vicious cycle.
Couldn't agree more. A lot of the people she helped also required mental health support but getting them off the street and fed always took priority out of necessity. It's a vicious cycle.
Totally agree. The fact that disabled are in poverty shows that there is little support. Many of the programs don't cover the needs of disabled people.
That actually makes the situation worse, IMO.
Totally agree. The fact that disabled are in poverty shows that there is little support. Many of the programs don't cover the needs of disabled people.
Very strange trend in Canada, since the 1970s-2019 poverty has been on decline, then much like when the fire nation attacked, COVID happened and poverty jumped up to 7.4%, but it's way worse for...
Very strange trend in Canada, since the 1970s-2019 poverty has been on decline, then much like when the fire nation attacked, COVID happened and poverty jumped up to 7.4%, but it's way worse for the single unmarried adult. Single Canadian adults are also on the rise in Canada as well.
This is unfortunately not terribly surprising, although the data is tragic. Single-income households are becoming less and less viable thanks to rising rents, food costs, and so on. The BC CDC...
This is unfortunately not terribly surprising, although the data is tragic. Single-income households are becoming less and less viable thanks to rising rents, food costs, and so on. The BC CDC released the Food Costing in BC 2022 report earlier this year and the numbers are staggering. The average cost of a healthy diet for a family of four in BC was $1,263 per month, and %14.9 of BC households experienced food insecurity in 2021. Related to the article, they said:
Research shows that the strongest predictor of household food insecurity is not food prices, but inadequate incomes.
and that
[The data in Table 7] shows that once families or individuals who rely on income or disability assistance have paid for housing and food, little to no money remains for other basic needs and living costs such as utilities, transportation, childcare, health and medical costs, education/student loans, and essential items such as toiletries and cleaning supplies. In some cases, once rent has been paid, there is not enough money left to afford a nutritious food basket and families or individuals must choose between having a roof over their heads and eating enough nutritious food.
Table 7 actually lists one category as "Single young male adult, disability assistance". That individual was $210.73 in debt each month after only having paid for rent and healthy food. This means they would already be in the red even before utilities, transportation, clothing, and so on. If governments don't step up to address the poverty crisis in Canada immediately, they are dooming entire demographics to abject destitution.
In a related anecdote, I just read earlier this morning that 20% was the estimated poverty rate in the U.S. when Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" in 1964 (granted, article I was reading...
In a related anecdote, I just read earlier this morning that 20% was the estimated poverty rate in the U.S. when Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" in 1964 (granted, article I was reading was mostly about how measurements of poverty rates are highly politicized and problematic at best).
The article mentions that most of these people are severely disabled:
That actually makes the situation worse, IMO. :( Disability payments in this country are abysmally low, and people relying on them are living well below the poverty line as a result... which the recent rise in prices has only made worse! E.g. Ontario raised the ODSP payments by 5% last year, but it's still not nearly enough after years of neglecting the program:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/odsp-ford-increase-1.6481500
BTW, they ultimately did decide to only raise it 5%. Fuck Ford.
https://incomesecurity.org/update-on-5-benefit-rate-increase-to-the-ontario-disability-support-program-odsp/
Fuck Ford indeed. My mother was a social worker so I learned first hand how poorly we treat our disabled in Ontario and how little we give them. She spent most of her time finding them food and housing.
Now with inflation it is much worse. Ford is sitting on a pile of cash and doing nothing but trying to figure out how to enrich himself and his cronies.
We know food insecurity leads to a higher mortality rate. It's just so endlessly depressing living under Ford.
The dark irony of this is that it effectively means she had less time to spend helping those people in other ways... Losing more money for everyone in the process.
Sometimes giving more in welfare means giving less. Unfortunately the neoliberal political atmosphere over the past few decades has seen many corners cut on welfare. Costing society more and more... And eventually this happens. People struggling with their basic needs over less-than-useless political gains. :/
Couldn't agree more. A lot of the people she helped also required mental health support but getting them off the street and fed always took priority out of necessity. It's a vicious cycle.
Totally agree. The fact that disabled are in poverty shows that there is little support. Many of the programs don't cover the needs of disabled people.
Very strange trend in Canada, since the 1970s-2019 poverty has been on decline, then much like when the fire nation attacked, COVID happened and poverty jumped up to 7.4%, but it's way worse for the single unmarried adult. Single Canadian adults are also on the rise in Canada as well.
This is unfortunately not terribly surprising, although the data is tragic. Single-income households are becoming less and less viable thanks to rising rents, food costs, and so on. The BC CDC released the Food Costing in BC 2022 report earlier this year and the numbers are staggering. The average cost of a healthy diet for a family of four in BC was $1,263 per month, and %14.9 of BC households experienced food insecurity in 2021. Related to the article, they said:
and that
Table 7 actually lists one category as "Single young male adult, disability assistance". That individual was $210.73 in debt each month after only having paid for rent and healthy food. This means they would already be in the red even before utilities, transportation, clothing, and so on. If governments don't step up to address the poverty crisis in Canada immediately, they are dooming entire demographics to abject destitution.
In a related anecdote, I just read earlier this morning that 20% was the estimated poverty rate in the U.S. when Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" in 1964 (granted, article I was reading was mostly about how measurements of poverty rates are highly politicized and problematic at best).