Poverty Measures Canadian Resources

Mesures de pauvreté : ressources canadiennes

Updated August 5, 2010
Page révisée le 5 août 2010

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[ Go to Canadian Social Research Links Home Page ]

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On this page you'll find links to Canadian resources on the subject of poverty measures.
For links to American and other international poverty measures, go to the Canadian Social Research Links Poverty Measures - International resources page
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For links to social program statistics for Canada and other countries, go to the Canadian Social Research Links Social Statistics page
For info on asset-based approaches to social policy, see the Canadian Social Research Links Asset-Based Social Policies Links page

 

Poverty absent from premiers' agenda
[CA] 4 Aug 10

First Comprehensive Review of the
Market Basket Measure of Low Income:
Final Report (PDF - 782K, 96 pages)
By Michael Hatfield, Wendy Pyper and Burton Gustajtis
June 2010
[Excerpt]
Following the release of the fourth report based on MBM data in December 2008 covering the years from 2000 to 2006 it was determined that sufficient experience with the original measure had been obtained to undertake the first comprehensive review of the measure during 2009 and early 2010. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) joined with Statistics Canada to carry out the review.

The purpose of the review is to ensure that the MBM, to the extent feasible, meets the following three criteria:
1) that the MBM “basket” continues to embody a modest* basic standard of living in the Canadian context of 2010;
2) that the cost of purchasing this standard of living in specific geographical regions within the ten Provinces is estimated as precisely as possible; and
3) that the measure takes into account as fully as possible the resources available to households to purchase the content of the ‘basket.”
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* OMG - Someone better give Chris Sarlo and Stephen Harper a Valium:
===> "Internet access services" is included as part of a modest basket of goods since 2005!
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More MBM report links from the
HRSDC Research/Publications page:
(Look under "Social and Economic Inclusion")
BTW - if you move your mouse over the "First Comprehensive..." link above, you'll note on your status bar (bottom-left corner of your monitor) that the PDF file is on the Canadian Social Research Links website and not the HRSDC website or the Statistics Canada website. That's because the web folks at HRSDC and StatCan are either too busy to upload the file to *their* web server, or else they all went on annual leave together. The link will appear on the HRSDC Publications page "soon"...

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Complementary reading:

Low income definitions
Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs)
--- Rebasing and Indexing the LICOs
--- Low income rate and low income gap
--- Use of after-tax and before-tax LICOs
Low Income Measures (LIMs)
Market Basket Measure (MBM)
Source:
Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics: 2008
(The "Low incomes definitions" above are found on the Notes and Definitions link off the main page of the
Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics or SLID)

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Low Income Lines, 2008-2009 *
June 17, 2010
HTML version
PDF version (1.2MB, 34 pages)
In order to provide a holographic or complete picture of low income, Statistics Canada is implementing an approach that uses three complementary low income lines:
- the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs)
- the Low Income Measures (LIMs)
- the Market Basket Measure (MBM)
Click the link above for more information on how each measure works.

* True to form, StatCan takes great pains to emphasize that "these measures are not measures of poverty, but strictly measures of low income."
StatCan has been consistently repeating that disclaimer since Ivan Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada, posted the following edict on his agency's website in 1997:

"On poverty and low income" - by Ivan Fellegi (1997)
- explains why his agency's low income cut-offs should not be used as the "official" poverty line for Canada.

SO - could someone explain to me how LICOs, LIMs and the MBM can be measures of low income without being measures of poverty?
(A rose is a rose is a rose, no?...)

Related links:

A New Era for Measuring Poverty in Canada
Posted by Iglika Ivanova
June 18, 2010
Last Thursday’s Statistics Canada release of individual and household income data for 2008 marks a new era in the study of poverty in Canada. Instead of reporting only on the Low Income Cut Offs (LICO), as they used to, Statistics Canada reported on three of the most common measures of low income in the same publication (LICO, the low income measure and the market basket measure). Gone are the days of looking for different studies produced by different institutions to compare trends of low income in Canada. Even more importantly for those of us looking for reliable and timely data on low incomes, Statistics Canada has now taken over producing the Market Basket Measure (MBM) from HRSDC.
Source:
Relentlessly Progressive Economics Blog
[ The Progressive Economics Forum ]

June 17, 2010
Income of Canadians, 2008
This report contains analysis, charts and time series at the Canada, province and some census metropolitan area level. To provide a more complete picture of low income, the report includes analysis using three complementary low income lines: the low income cut-offs, the low income measures and the market basket measure (MBM). The first two were developed by Statistics Canada; the MBM is based on concepts developed by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
- includes three tables:
----- Selected income concepts by main family types, 2007 and 2008
----- Selected income concepts for economic families of two persons or more by province, 2008 ith two persons or more.
----- Percentage of persons in low income (1992 base after-tax income low income cut-offs)

"Median after-tax income for families with two or more people, adjusted for inflation, was $63,900 in 2008, virtually unchanged from 2007. This followed four years of growth. For unattached individuals, after-tax income also remained unchanged, at $24,900. This was the first time in three years in which no significant change was observed." (Excerpt)

Related subjects
* Income, pensions, spending and wealth
* Household, family and personal income
* Low income and inequality

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June 7, 2010
Revising Statistics Canada's Low Income Measure (LIM)
June 2010
Statistics Canada introduced its Low Income Measure (LIM) in 1991 as a complement to its Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs). The Low Income Measure (LIM) is a dollar threshold that delineates low-income in relation to the median income and different versions of this measure are in wide use internationally. Over the intervening 25 years there have been a number of useful methodological and conceptual developments in the area of low income measurement. To make the Canadian LIM methodology consistent with international norms and practices, a revision of the Statistics Canada LIM methodology appears desirable.

Table of contents:
* Introduction
* The LIM and proposed modifications
* What happens to low-income statistics with all three modifications?
* Summary
* Tables and figures
* References
* Appendix A: Glossary
* More information
* PDF version (806K, 31 pages)

Source:
Income Research Paper Series
[ Statistics Canada ]

From Statistics Canada:

Low income Measurement in Canada:
What do different Lines and Indexes tell us?
May 2010
By Xuelin Zhan
Income Statistics Division
Abstract and Summary HTML)
Complete research paper (PDF - 1.2MB, 44 pages)
While Canada has never had an official poverty line, there are a number of low income lines widely employed to inform public debates and program initiatives. (...) This study assesses the existing Low Income Cut-Offs (LICO), Low Income Measures (LIM), and Market Basket Measure (MBM) lines, together with a fixed LIM, by using several distribution sensitive indexes. We found that the low income lines tracked each other well in the long-run. But, in the short-run, they often behaved differently.

Table of contents:
* Introduction
* A comparison of LICO, LIMs and MBM
* Low income indexes under alternative lines
* Who fall between the lines?
* Who contributes more to overall low income? A decomposition analysis
* Summary and conclusions
* Tables and figures
* Appendix 1 Methodology
* References
* More information

Lies, damn lies and...
Poverty statistics?

If your eyes glaze over at the mere mention of poverty lines and/or unemployment statistics, I think you'll appreciate this short discussion/reflexion paper by Canadian social policy experts Richard Shillington and John Stapleton. It's an overview of, and observations about, Canada's poverty measurement tools; it includes discussion (or reflexion) points for further study or group discussions. Did YOU know that there are four different ways to measure Employment Insurance coverage of the Canadian workforce? And what the heck is a B/U ratio, anyway? Click below to find out.

Cutting Through the Fog:
Why is it so hard to make sense of poverty measures? (PDF - 186K, 22 pages)
Richard Shillington and John Stapleton
May 2010
(...) This paper is intended to open up some room for thoughtful discussion about poverty issues among interested Canadians. The goal is not to tell anyone what to think, but to encourage all of us to question.
(...) Data can be presented in many different ways, depending on the goals of the person or group providing the data. It is important to question what is being measured, how it is measured, and when it was measured.
(...) Being critical of the statistics used as “evidence” for a point of view involves finding out what assumptions underlie the numbers.
For example, you might hear that:
• the percentage of Canadians living in poverty is around 15%...or only 5%, or
• Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) program covers approximately 85% of the unemployed…or only 45%.
(...) The gap between these statistics is so large because they measure different things.

Source:
Metcalf Foundation
The Foundation was established by George Cedric Metcalf in 1960. It currently makes grants totaling approximately $5.5 million each year and has an asset base of approximately $130 million. The Foundation works primarily in three areas: environment, performing arts and low-income communities. Our work is focused on supporting organizations that are working collaboratively to cultivate long-term solutions to issues, thinking broadly in pursuit of comprehensive approaches and engaging communities to take a meaningful role in decisions affecting their lives

Related links:

Open Policy - John Stapleton's website
Tristat Resources - Richard Shillington's website

See also:
* the Non-Governmental Organizations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ngobkmrk.htm
* the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm

Low Income Measurement in Canada (PDF file - 220K, 20 pages)
December 2004
by Philip Giles
Description and comparison of measures of low income:
- Low-income cutoffs (LICO)
- Low income measures (LIM)
- Market Basket Measure (MBM)
- Future developments
Source:
Statistics Canada

Poverty in Canada
- incl. links to : * History of poverty in Canada * Measures of poverty in Canada * Low income groups in Canada * Effects of poverty in Canada * Assistance for poor people in Canada (Government transfers and intervention - Non-governmental assistance) * more...
Source:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Evolution of Poverty Measurement
- with special reference to Canada (PDF file - 811K, 149 pages)
February 9, 2007
[Second Draft - Please check the author's website for the most recent version]
This essay discusses the evolution of the measurement of poverty over the last thirty years and its links to the evolving debates on human rights and social exclusion – with special reference to the Canadian debate
Source:
Lars Osberg
Economics Department
Dalhousie University
CV/Publications by Lars Osberg - 175+ links articles, book chapters, etc.

How do we measure poverty?
November 24, 2006
NOTE: at the bottom of the poverty measurement article,
you'll find links to all of the following related CBC content and external links:
* Paid to be Poor
* the fifth estate: No Way Home
* CBC News: Report says government needs to 'break the back' of poverty in Canada (May 5, 2004)
* Little change in child poverty rates (Nov. 24, 2003)
* Child poverty goes up in Toronto (June 30, 2003)
* New poverty indicator shows 1 in 8 Canadians poor (May 27, 2003)
* 'Persistent poverty' crippling Canadian children (Nov. 4, 2002)
* More Canadian children living in poverty (May 6, 2002)
* 1 in 4 Saskatoon kids lives in poverty: report (Nov. 20, 2001)
* Ottawa told defeating child poverty requires money, programs (Sept. 10, 2001)
* Poverty rate inflated: Fraser Institute report (July 23, 2001)
* Child poverty remains a national crisis (Nov. 24, 1999)
* More Canadian families slipping into poverty (May 8, 1999)
* 'Social program changes attack poor' (Mar. 4, 1999)
RELATED EXTERNAL LINKS:
* Measuring Poverty in Canada - The Fraser Institute
* Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
* On poverty and low income - Statistics Canada
* Campaign 2000
* Campaign Against Child Poverty
* UN Special Session on Children
Source:
CBC News In Depth

Also from CBC:

The debate over Canada's poverty line
November 12, 2007
By Armina Ligaya
Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet even as the nation is in the midst of an economic boom, there are still those who struggle to buy life's necessities. Past and current governments have implemented a myriad of strategies to help the country's most vulnerable. They range from boosting social assistance to, at the more punitive extreme, restricting employment insurance. Debate continues over what's the best approach to eradicate poverty, assuming that is in fact a reachable goal.
Source:
CBC News Online

Working Definitions of Poverty (PDF file, 250K)
in the Canadian Fact Book on Poverty 2000
from the Canadian Council on Social Development
- written in August 2000, this chapter from the Fact Book on Poverty explains eight different poverty measures.
[Since the release of the Canadian Fact Book on Poverty, the federal and provincial/territorial governments have released the Market Basket Measure or MBM (this link takes you to MBM info further down on this page)]

A measure of poverty in Canada : a guide to the debate about poverty lines (PDF file - 126K, 22 pages)
March 2002
Greg deGroot-Maggetti
"Choosing a poverty line depends on how high or how low we set our sights for the well-being of the materially disadvantaged in our society."
Source : Citizens for Public Justice

Solving poverty:
First it has to be defined
January 5, 2007
By Neil Reynolds
"OTTAWA -- How do poor families spend so much more money than they earn? By one measure -- the National Council of Welfare -- the average poor Canadian family spends $4,855 a year more than the $14,366 it receives as income, a difference of 33 per cent. By another measure -- the Fraser Institute -- the average poor Canadian family spends $9,370 more than the $9,114 it receives as income, a difference of more than 100 per cent. (...) The solution to this mystery will help determine the number of poor households in Canada..."
Source:
The Globe and Mail

<begin rant.>

Argh.

There's no "mystery" at all here for anyone who works with these types of statistics --- you can't just compare the numbers obtained in one study of household spending with those from another study of declared income. Methodologies vary, as do sample sizes and a number of other factors.

So why do it?
Perhaps to try and discredit an organization like the National Council of Welfare that uses these numbers to support of initiatives like its Solving Poverty report?

I generally try to stay out of the debate about the merits of absolute and relative poverty measurement. In this case, however, it wasn't the spurious juxtaposition of StatCan studies on household spending and income that moved me to comment, nor the absolutist views of Christopher Sarlo (click the link in the previous line for related info). Rather, it was a short reference in the article to the Council that simply pissed me off enough that I wanted to set the record straight. The reference in question? "The Ottawa-based National Council of Welfare is a conventional lobby organization that seeks to increase federal funding to fight poverty."

Uh-uh.
There isn't even a hint of "conventional lobby organization" here --- the Council is a citizen's advisory body whose mandate is enshrined in federal legislation since 1969.
Department of Social Development Act - (see the link under Part I to "National Council of Welfare")
The Council's role is not to advance the cause (read "profit margin") of the big drug companies or the car or tobacco industry - as "conventional lobby organizations" do - but rather to advise the federal government about "the needs and problems of low-income Canadians and on social and related programs and policies which affect their welfare". All Council members are private citizens drawn from across Canada and appointed by the Governor-in-Council, and they serve in their personal capacities rather than as representatives of organizations or agencies. There is no personal gain for Council members.

The above Globe and Mail article is dated January 5, 2007.
Here's an article on the same topic that appeared in the Toronto Star the next day:

Editorial: Defining poverty crucial first step
January 6, 2007
How many Canadians are really living in poverty today? How much money would it take to lift them over the poverty line? Regrettably, no one can say for certain because Canada lacks an official measure of poverty. And without such a measure, governments and advocates for the poor can only guess at how widespread poverty is, whether it is getting better or worse, and what must be done to eliminate it or even cut it in half.
Source:
The Toronto Star

<end rant.>

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Related link from the
National Council of Welfare:

Poverty Profile 2007 (Jan/Feb. 2010)
Poverty Profile is a regular publication of the Council that is based on survey data from Statistics Canada. It includes detailed information about poverty rates and numbers, depth of poverty, duration of poverty, common sources of income for poor people, income inequality in Canada and poverty and the paid labour market.
- also includes links to earlier Poverty Profiles, from 1998 to 2004

Poverty Profile Bulletins:
* No. 1: Introduction to Poverty Trends in Canada, 1976-2007
* No. 2: Poverty Trends by Family Type
* No. 3: Poverty Trends by Province
* No. 4: A Snapshot of Children Living in Poverty
* Methodology, Definitions and Data Sources

NOTE: Please click the link below and use the search engine on the Council's new website to find any particular report.

Source:
National Council of Welfare

The New Poverty Agenda:
Reshaping Policies in the 21st Century
Conference (Kingston)
August 18-20, 2008
Excerpt from the Conference theme:
"The new poverty agenda demands new policy responses. An effective anti-poverty strategy depends on a wide range of instruments: income transfers, tax policy, asset-building strategies, early childhood interventions, education, labour market programs, housing and social services. An effective response also requires a judicious balancing of general programs and targeted initiatives for particular vulnerable groups, such as children in care, recent immigrants, single-parent families, Aboriginal peoples, people with disabilities, and displaced workers."

NOTE: if you click on the link to the conference home page (The New Poverty Agenda), you'll find links to all 20+ presentations, but they're only identified by author rather than title.
To see the complete list of presentation titles, go to the Conferences page of this site:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm#new_poverty_agenda_conference

Sessions:
* The New Poverty Agenda * Income Transfers and Asset Building * The Tax Regime * Early Childhood Initiatives and Education * Addressing Poverty and Other Social Policy Challenges through Social Risk Management: A New Conceptual Framework? * Employment and Training Programs * Integrated Approaches in Communities: Place-based Interventions * Roundtable on the Politics of Poverty: Can Poverty be a Priority?

Source:
Queen's School of Policy Studies

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Newfoundland and Labrador
Market Basket Measure (NLMBM)
Thanks to an anonymous newsletter subscriber for pointing out that Newfoundland and Labrador's new customized Market Basket Measure doesn't appear on the Antipoverty Links page of this website. In my haste to share the link to the First Progress Report on the NL Poverty Reduction Strategy (PDF - 4MB, 76 pages, December 2009) last week, I skimmed past the section on the NLMBM in that report. According to my subscriber's email, "... NL has developed their own variation on the market basket measure, the NLMBM, which uses tax data rather than surveys, and therefore purports to capture the entire population. They've also developed a NLMBM of Housing Affordability. Part of what's interesting is that they've got gender analysis embedded in the NLMBM data that's being developed - not a claim that can be made about any of the other poverty measures."
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I can't find any technical information on the NLMBM online at this point in time (Dec. 22/09),
but I've pulled together a few tidbits of information from NL reports that might pique your curiosity if you're interested in poverty measurement.
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Newfoundland and Labrador
Market Basket Measure (NLMBM)
In the 2006 Action Plan:
[ Reducing Poverty: An Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador (PDF file - 1.6MB, 60 pages), 2006]
...a commitment was made to improve capacity to measure and track progress in poverty reduction.
[Excerpts] A major innovation has been the development of the Newfoundland and Labrador Market Basket Measure (NLMBM). This new measure uses a similar approach to the federal government's Market Basket Measure (MBM). Like the MBM, it compares the incomes of families to the cost of a basket of goods and services necessary to live a productive and socially inclusive life. Unlike the MBM and all other available measures of low-income that use surveys to estimate low-income levels, the NLMBM uses tax-filer data and other sources to provide more accurate income and expense information for all tax-filers. This allows for the reporting of low-income levels in communities and neighbourhoods, as well as results for other subgroups such as different age groups or family types. This is important because it allows for the tracking of progress for different parts of the province as well as for different vulnerable groups so that it can be ensured that PRS is working for all. The NLMBM is available on Community Accounts [ www.communityaccounts.ca]

The NLMBM is developed and maintained by the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency.
In future years, NLMBM depth, persistence and other indicators of low income will be reported as they become available.

NOTE: For more info on the NLMBM, see Appendix II of the first progress report (PDF - 4MB, 76 pages, December 2009) or
request information from povertyreduction@gov.nl.ca

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MAY 20 (2010) UPDATE:

The N&L Market Basket Measure was released in January 2010 into the Community Accounts [ www.communityaccounts.ca] data. On the Community Accounts page, the NL MBM shows as the “Incidence of Low Income” under the “Income, Consumption & Leisure” accounts. For most geographies it can be broken down by family type. Currently available for 2005.

Newfoundland and Labrador Market Basket Measure Maps are presented by Rural Secretariat Region. These maps show incidence of low income for communities by Rural Secretariat Region. They also display a Remoteness Index which is a spacial measurement of access to essential government and community services.

Related link:

Newfoundland and Labrador
Poverty Reduction Strategy
The Poverty Reduction Strategy is a Government-wide approach to transform Newfoundland and Labrador from a province with the most poverty to one with the least over a ten year period. The strategy includes initiatives and programs which target the groups most vulnerable to poverty.
- includes * Poverty Reduction Initiatives * Guiding Principles * Documents and News Releases * Partner Departments and Agencies
Source:
Human Resources, Labour and Employment

Related links:
Go to the Anti-poverty Strategies and Campaigns page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty.htm

The CCSD position paper Defining and Re-Defining Poverty: A CCSD Perspective (October 2001) offers a good overview of the debate around the different approaches used to measure poverty in Canada.
Social policy advocates, including the CCSD, have strongly defended a relative definition of poverty, arguing that to be poor is to be distant from the mainstream of society and to be excluded from the resources, opportunities and sources of subjective and objective well-being which are readily available to others. 

See also:

Social Indicators Links - from the Canadian Council on Social Development

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Measuring child benefits: Measuring child poverty (PDF file - 270K, 73 pages)
February 2005
By Michael Mendelson
"This report addresses two critical questions in social policy: what is child poverty and how much is an adequate child benefit? To answer these questions, the report provides an analytic basis to distinguish between poverty among families with children and that element of their poverty that is properly understood as ‘child poverty.’ It argues that child benefits should cover the incremental cost of raising a child in a family living just above poverty levels. But to estimate an adequate child benefit, we must then define ‘poverty.’ Building upon a critical review of Canadian and international research, the report describes two alternative methodologies that could be adopted to develop a well-grounded Canadian poverty line. The report provides a number of preliminary quantitative estimates of the value of an adequate child benefit according to these methodologies. This report will challenge your understanding of ‘child poverty,’ how it should be measured and the role of child benefits in addressing it."
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

A Lost Decade: Income Equality and the Health of Canadians
December 2, 2002
Presentation by Katherine Scott, Senior Policy and Research Associate, at the Social Determinants of Health Conference in Toronto
Source : Canadian Council on Social Development

Where to draw the line on child poverty We need a measure of poverty that tells us if we’re making progress against it By Andrew Coyne December 8, 2009 Source: Macleans.ca COMMENT By Gilles: In this article, Macleans National Editor Andrew Coyne argues in favour of doing away with the StatCan Low Income Cutoff as a measure of poverty in Canada, and he suggests that we should be using two separate poverty lines - one absolute and one relative. He mentions the Market Basket Measure and Christopher Sarlo's work as models for an absolute measure of poverty in Canada, and he notes that "our notion of what is absolute privation will change over time, in line with prevailing notions of decency. Similarly, relative definitions have an element of the absolute to them: will we still define one-half the median as 'low income' when the median is a million dollars?", he asks. This is the classic, simplistic argument of social conservatives against a relative poverty line: "Give everyone in Canada a million dollars and we'll still have exactly the same number of poor people." The correct answer to Mr. Coyne and to this rhetorical question is: "YES, we will still define one-half the median as 'low income' when the median is a million dollars, because at that theoretical point in time, the cost of everything will have also risen astronomically compared to today's prices. If the annual median income in Canada (rounded to $50,000 for 2009) is extrapolated to 20 times its current amount, then you must also assume that the cost of food, clothing, household and personal needs and shelter will also increase by the same factor of twenty. [Some items will increase by less than 20 and some by more.] For links to information about poverty measurement in Canada, see: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty.htm --- Also, Mr. Coyne notes that the Market Basket Measure "is used by provincial welfare departments to set social assistance rates..." This is incorrect. No Canadian province or territory uses the Market Basket Measure (MBM) to set its welfare rates. The MBM was originally designed as a benchmarking tool to help in measuring the success of the National Child Benefit initiative in the late 1990s, but no Canadian jurisdiction has ever used it to set welfare rates, to my knowledge. In fact, the notion of welfare rates being "set" is a bit of a misnomer --- in all jurisdictions, the welfare rates were "set" a long time ago, and since then it's been a political decision as to if/when the rates are increased and by how much except in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. In those two progressive provinces, the rate of annual increase is enshrined in the welfare regulations. For links to more info about the Market Basket Measure, see: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty.htm#mbm For welfare rate information for all jurisdictions, see: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/welfare.htm

THE CANADIAN INDEX OF WELLBEING

Institute of Wellbeing
The Institute is independent, non-partisan, with a newly forming affiliation with the University of Waterloo, and operates under the leadership of an advisory board of accomplished Canadians and international experts. Its mission is to report on the quality of life of Canadians, and promote a dialogue on how to improve it through evidence-based policies that are responsive to the needs and values of Canadians.

Selected site content:

Canada Suffering from Huge Democratic Deficit, Report Says
Press Release
January 27, 2010
OTTAWA, ON – Canada is experiencing a huge democratic deficit with trust in Canadian government and public institutions on a steep decline, says a report on Democratic Engagement released today by the Institute of Wellbeing.The report, which assesses Canadians’ democratic engagement, looks at eight quality of life indicators and finds Canadians aren’t satisfied with their democracy – which shows growing skepticism in political institutions and declining voter turnout rates.

Context:
The Canadian Index of Well-being is tracking changes in eight quality of life categories or “domains”. The Democratic Engagement report, released on January 27, is the latest release in the series. Domain reports on Living Standards, Healthy Populations and Community Vitality are now available; reports on the findings from the other domains will be released as the research is completed over the next year.

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First Report of the Institute of Wellbeing (PDF - 4.4MB, 41 pages)
June 2009
If you’ve ever wondered how Canadians are REALLY doing, you’re in the right place. This newly released report shows that: even in good economic times the lion’s share of benefits go to the wealthy while the poor stay poor and the shrinking middle class muddles through; Canadians are living longer but not healthier – health among teenagers is especially worrying; but crime is down and social relationships in our communities are stronger. The report also shows that cuts or lack of improvements to government programs like welfare, Employment Insurance and publicly funded medical services are hurting Canadians.

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing will track changes in eight quality of life categories or “domains”.
The following are available online as of June 10, 2009:
* Living Standards - measures the level and distribution of income and wealth, poverty rates, income volatility, and economic security, including the security of jobs, food, housing and the social safety net.
* Healthy Populations - measures the physical and mental wellbeing of the population, life expectancy, behaviours and life circumstances that influence health, health care quality and access, and public health services.
* Community Vitality - measures the strength, activity and inclusiveness of relationships among residents, private sector, public sector and voluntary organizations.
[ Click each of the links above to access an in-depth analytical report, an executive summary, highlights and tables and graphs.]
Reports on the findings from the other five domains will be released as the research is completed over the next year.

Selected reports on Living Standards:

How are Canadians Really doing?
A Closer Look at Select Groups
December 16, 2009
News Release / Report Highlights
On June 10, 2009, the Institute of Wellbeing released its First Report: How are Canadians Really doing? (PDF - 4.4MB, 41 pages) The Report summarized the trends, highlights and interconnections among three related areas of wellbeing – Living Standards, Healthy Populations and Community Vitality. The Report identified a number of groups whose wellbeing was significantly worse than that of most Canadians. As a follow-up, the Institute has taken a closer look at the wellbeing of four of these groups - Canadians with low incomes, Aboriginal peoples, racialized groups and youth. The paper whose link appears below provides further evidence that low-income, Aboriginal, racialized and youth population groups are being left behind and are not sharing in the wealth, health and strong community that Canada has worked to develop.

Complete report:

How are Canadians Really doing? A Closer Look at Select Groups (PDF - 329K, 46 pages)
December 2009
People with low incomes, Aboriginal peoples, racialized groups and youth are falling behind on key quality of life indicators, says a report released today by the Institute of Wellbeing, How are Canadians Really doing? A Closer Look at Select Groups. Women in poor neighbourhoods have 25% higher odds of having a premature birth; Aboriginal people are almost four times more likely to live in a crowded dwelling; visible minority or racialized groups are three times more likely to be poor due to low wages, social exclusion and racialization in the labour market; and earnings of young adults relative to other earners have been falling over the past 20 years.

Living Standards report (PDF - 1.9MB, 134 pages)
By Andrew Sharpe and Jean François Arsenault
June 2009
The report is divided into four major parts. Part one examines trends in average and median income and wealth indicators in Canada. Part two looks at the distribution of the income and wealth of Canadians over time, including trends in poverty. Part three discusses trends in income fluctuations or volatility. Part four analyzes trends in the economic security of Canadians, including labour market security, food security, housing security, and the security provided by the social safety net.

Excerpt from
Highlights - Living Standards (PDF - 773K, 8 pages):
An examination of data covering 1981-2008 revealed the following trends regarding the evolution of living standards in Canada:
* Canadians were on average better off in terms of income and wealth.
* But, income and wealth inequality increased.
* Labour productivity growth exceeded real wage growth.
* Little progress was made in reducing poverty.
* There was an overall improvement in labour market conditions.
* The social safety net continued to fray, providing less support for the disadvantaged.
* Overall, Canada became a much richer country, but it was the top 20% that received the lion’s share of rising income and wealth.

Two related links
from The Toronto Star:

There's more to life than GDP
Canadians need a new, holistic measure of societal progress that goes beyond economics
June 10, 2009
By Roy Romanow
[ Former Saskatchewan Premier and founding chair of the Institute of Wellbeing. ]
For many years – and particularly since the onset of the global recession – Canadians and people around the world have been bombarded with news about the gross domestic product. Numbers have been issued and then updated. Predictions have been made and then revised. So powerful and predominant has GDP become, that the New York Times referred to it as "a celebrity among statistics, a giant calculator strutting about adding up every bit of paid activity..." But what is GDP? What does it tell us about how well or poorly we are doing as a society? More important, what does it leave out? And what are the consequences of this omission?
(...)
Today is the launch of the Institute of Wellbeing and the introduction of its signature project, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW). The institute is independent, non-partisan and guided by an advisory board of Canadian and international experts. (...) Today the institute released its first report, summarizing research findings in the three areas of Living Standards, Healthy Populations and Community Vitality. We noted that during so-called economic good times, Canadian workers failed to reap their share of the benefits of productivity growth, with hourly wages rising at only half of the rate of GDP. (...) The CIW will connect the dots between public policy decisions and Canadians' quality of life. It will promote a new understanding of wellbeing and a dialogue that reshapes the way we talk about wellbeing and public policy issues. It will encourage policy-makers to make evidence-based decisions that respond to the values and needs of Canadians. In that respect, it will be a true nation-building project.

Coming soon: Good-life index
Experts develop measure that looks beyond GDP to gauge quality of life and spur policy change
June 10, 2009
By Kenneth Kidd
"(...) 'GDP measures everything but the quality of life', notes Roy Romanow, chair of the Institute of Wellbeing, which is busy creating a more balanced and exhaustive method of measuring the quality of life Canadians enjoy. 'What we want to do is elevate, at a Canadian level, a measuring tool which is easily seen and understood by the public in order to put pressure, to be blunt about it, on governments,' says Romanow. The push to create an alternative gauge that includes health and social measures as well as economic ones began about a decade ago, but has gathered steam in recent years under the auspices of the Institute of Wellbeing. Dozens of academics and policy-makers, partly funded by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, are now working on various elements of a Canadian Index of Wellbeing, or CIW. The CIW will be a composite index aggregating results from eight areas, with reports to be released today on three of them: living standards, healthy populations and community vitality.

Measuring the Progress of Societies Newsletter (PDF - 929K, 10 pages)
March 2008
Source:
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

Istanbul World Forum - Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies
June 27-30, Istanbul, Turkey

---

A richer way of measuring wealth:
New well-being index would complement traditional GDP - February 19, 2007
The Canadian Index of Well-being (CIW)

Source:
The Toronto Star

Ontario Deprivation Index:

Developing a Deprivation Index: The Research Process (PDF - 548K, 27 pages)
December 2, 2009
This paper tells the story of the development of the Ontario Deprivation Index by the Daily Bread Food Bank and the Caledon Institute of Social Policy. A ‘deprivation index’ is a list of items which are widely seen as necessary for a household to have a standard of living above the poverty level so that most households not in poverty are likely to have these items, but households in poverty are likely to find some of them unaffordable and so not have all those items. The index should therefore contain those items that distinguish the poor from the non-poor in the prevailing social and economic conditions.

A three-stage community-based research process was used to develop the measure, engaging those with lived experience of poverty. Statistics Canada has now refined this list and incorporated it as a supplement to their Labour Force Survey, under the sponsorship of the Government of Ontario. The result of the process was the creation of the Ontario Deprivation Index, which constitutes one part of the multi-indicator “Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel” in the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy. This is the first poverty measure to be developed through a unique partnership of a community organization, a policy think tank, government and Statistics Canada. It is also the first time a deprivation index has been developed in North America . The deprivation index is an innovative way of measuring poverty, different than all the other measures now used in Canada .

Testing the Validity of the Ontario Deprivation Index (PDF - 122K, 13 pages)
December 2, 2009
Using an empirical methodology based on a series of surveys and focus groups, Daily Bread Food Bank and the Caledon Institute of Social Policy have developed a deprivation index for Ontario . A ‘deprivation index’ is a list of items which are widely seen as necessary for a household to have a standard of living above the poverty level so that most households not in poverty are likely to have these items, but households in poverty are likely to find some of them unaffordable and so not have all those items. The index should therefore contain those items that distinguish the poor from the non-poor in the prevailing social and economic conditions.

This paper is a preliminary test of the validity of the Ontario Deprivation Index using the results of a Statistics Canada survey of 10,000 Ontario households. We look at the performance of the index against 6 variables: income, education, employment status, immigration, family type and housing tenure. A similar method for testing the validity of the new Irish deprivation index was also used, although in this paper we are presenting only the most basic tests. Based on this early analysis, the Ontario Deprivation Index fully meets the tests of validity in relation to these variables.

Source:
Daily Bread Food Bank
and
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
[NOTE: You'll also find links to both reports on the Caledon Institute website.]

Related links:

New measure for the pain of poverty
December 3, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten and Tanya Talaga
One in eight Ontario children live in families that can't afford fresh fruits and vegetables every day, or can't afford to replace a broken appliance or share the occasional meal with friends or family. These are a few of the 10 indicators listed in a new provincial poverty measure called the Ontario Deprivation Index, introduced Wednesday by Children's Minister Laurel Broten as part of the government's first annual report on the province's poverty reduction plan. The 10 "deprivation indicators" are not intended to be a comprehensive list. Instead, they are a sample of items and activities common to most Ontarians but out of reach for poor households, the report says.
Source:
Parent Central
[ Toronto Star ]

Where are you on the Deprivation Index?
By Laurie Monsebraaten
December 2, 2009
One in eight Ontario children is living in poverty, according to a new provincial measure released Wednesday that looks at whether families can afford items on a list of basic necessities. Families not able to afford two or more items from a list of 10 indicators on the Ontario Deprivation Index are considered as "having a poverty level standard of living," the McGuinty government says in its first annual report on Ontario's poverty reduction strategy.
Source:
Toronto Star

---

National Post editorial board: A new way to overstate poverty
December 4, 2009
(...) The McGuinty government has chosen to use a measure of relative poverty known as a “deprivation index,” popular in England, Scotland, New Zealand and elsewhere. Any Ontarian unable to eat fresh fruit and vegetables daily, or meat, fish or “a vegetarian equivalent” every second day is considered poor. (...) We have long argued that Statistics Canada’s Low-Income Cut Off (LICO) — a commonly cited measurement of poverty in Canada — was a useless, relativist index. But we think Ontario’s deprivation index is even worse. No doubt, however, the bureaucrats like it just fine — for it justifies the case for more government intervention in the economy.
Source:
National Post

////////////

Picturing poverty: Ontario's new Material Deprivation Index
By Chandra Pasma
July 9, 2009
"(...) Canada has no official definition of poverty. There are a number of definitions and measures that are commonly but unofficially used for social policy discussions, but no formal agreement as to what we are seeking to eliminate in Canada. For this reason, provincial poverty reduction strategies have had to choose their own definition and measurement of poverty. Measuring is essential to tracking movement and providing accountability.

Ontario chose to develop a new measure, the Ontario Material Deprivation Index. Ontario’s strategy will use this measure in conjunction with two other measures: 40% of median income as a measurement of the depth of poverty, and 50% of median income to measure low income. (Although both of these are relative measures, Ontario chose to fix its target of 25% reduction of poverty in 5 years according to the 50% low income measure fixed at its 2008 level and adjusted by inflation only). The Deprivation Index fits in the context of these other two measures as a way of understanding standard of living. It is not considered to be a complete description of poverty, but a way of recognizing common symptoms of poverty. It includes multiple elements of poverty, including deprivation that leads to social isolation, issues of economic security, and the ability to make changes in your life.
[ more... ]

The Ontario Material Deprivation Index
was developed by the Daily Bread Food Bank
in conjunction with people living in poverty.
Source:
Chandra's Blog
[ Citizens for Public Justice ]

The Index consists of a list of ten items considered as basic necessities by at least one-half of Ontarians surveyed, and households whose income is below 50% of the median income and who are missing two or more of the items on the deprivation index, they are considered to be persistently poor.

Index of Economic Well-being
Has economic well-being increased or decreased in recent years, and is it higher or lower in one country compared to others? Traditionally these questions have been answered by looking at trends in and comparisons of GDP per capita, but this is a poor measure of economic well-being. It measures consumption incompletely, ignoring the value of leisure and longer life spans, and it also ignores the value of accumulation for future generations. Furthermore, since it is an average, GDP per capita gives no indication of the likelihood that an individual will share in prosperity nor of the degree of anxiety with which individuals contemplate their futures."
- incl. links to:
Introduction and Methodology - The Index for Canada -The Index for Canada and the United States - The Index for Canada and the Provinces - The Index for OECD Countries - An Index of Labour Market Well-being - Weighting tool for Canada and OECD Countries
Source:
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (Ottawa)

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada is the country's national government statistical agency.
Statistics Canada's Low income cut-offs (LICOs) are considered by most as the bible of relative poverty measures in Canada - although the agency itself does not endorse the use of its LICOs as a proxy for poverty. A disclaimer to that effect can be found in all Statistics Canada LICO reports.

Fraser Institute
"Competitive Market Solutions for Public Policy Problems"

Editorial Comment: The Fraser Institute represents the interests of Canada's business elite, and its views on social issues fit squarely within the ideological framework of the conservative corporate agenda. I disagree with most of those views. On the issue of poverty measurement, for example, the Institute has consistently promoted the use of an absolute approach vs a relative approach - see below for links to more info on both measures, including earlier work by Christopher Sarlo proposing an absolute poverty line for Canada. I went through a period of about a year during which I'd dutifully visit the Fraser Institute's website on a regular basis to add links to their stuff on poverty measurement to my Poverty Measures page. I've since shifted gears, and I don't often include links to this type of information on my site nor in my newsletter. This is not because another "leftie" from my mailing list criticized me back then for giving the Institute's material too much prominence. I feel strongly that it's important for both sides to have all the facts. My decision to focus more on the counterpoint arguments (in favour of a relative approach to measuring poverty) is based on my subjective view that Fraser is merely trotting out articles supporting absolute poverty (most of which are written by Chris Sarlo) on a regular basis to keep reinforcing their view. If they say it often enough, they figure people will eventually accept it as the truth. In my view, absolute poverty measures may be an appropriate benchmark for Third World countries, but Canada and other industrialized nations should be more concerned about measuring social inclusion and income inequality (i.e., relative measures) than the contents and generosity of a market basket of goods (absolute measures). Gilles

‘Growing gap’ between rich and poor overstated;
evidence points to improvements in living standards for poorest Canadians
News Release
May 28, 2009
VANCOUVER, BC—The “gap” between the economic well-being of rich and poor Canadians may not be growing, says a new, peer-reviewed report from independent research organization the Fraser Institute. Past attempts to measure economic inequality using only reported incomes have ignored other factors that contribute to the real standard of living, Professor Chris Sarlo writes in the report The Economic Well-Being of Canadians: Is there a Growing Gap? “There is a commonly held notion that the rich are always getting richer and the poor poorer,” said Sarlo, an associate professor of economics at Nipissing University and Fraser Institute senior fellow. “However, most reports of a ‘growing gap’ in economic well-being between the rich and poor are based exclusively on reported incomes, ignoring other factors that help define one’s standard of living.”

The Economic Well-Being of Canadians: Is there a Growing Gap?
May 2009
by Chris Sarlo
Complete report (PDF - 842K, 58 pages)
Executive summary (HTML)
"(...)This paper has two purposes. First and principally it is a critical examination of the evidence for a “growing gap” in Canada. The paper will attempt to look at inequality in a somewhat broader context than is customary. Evidence drawn largely from household-spending data files as well as from household facility-ownership data and household net-worth data can shed additional light on the trend in inequality for Canada. Second, the paper will examine the issue of data reliability in the context of the measurement of inequality."

Source:
Fraser Institute "A free and prosperous world through choice, markets and responsibility"

< Begin 1st Fraser Institute Rant of 2009 >

I disagree fundamentally with the ideologically-driven libertarian views of the Fraser Institute with respect to poverty and social programs in Canada, and I don't generally link to their reports --- let them get their own soapbox, I say.
[The exception to this rule is the Fraser Institute's poverty line reports, which are the bible of the Absolute Poverty Measure supporters; you'll find links to those reports above.]

In this case, however, I decided to make an exception because of the last line in the Living Standards Highlights from the Institute of Wellbeing (above): "Canada became a much richer country, but it was the top 20% that received the lion’s share of rising income and wealth."
Hmmmm - let's see:
Former Saskatchewan NDP Premier Roy Romanow and the Institute of Wellbeing say that "[F]or economic families, the after-tax income of the top quintile, or fifth, of households, adjusted for family size, rose 39 per cent between 1981 and 2007, while the increases for the other quintiles were in the 20-25 per cent range", and that "an even more unequal pattern was observed for total and market income".

< /End 1st Fraser Institute Rant of 2009 >

What is Poverty? Providing Clarity for Canada
By Chris Sarlo
May 7, 2008
Efforts to accurately measure and define poverty in Canada have been hindered by inconsistent and poor quality data, resulting in a confusing picture that is often further distorted by politicians and activists, according to a new study, What is Poverty? Providing Clarity for Canada, written by noted poverty researcher and Fraser Institute senior fellow Professor Chris Sarlo of Nipissing University.
Executive Summary
Complete report (PDF - 1.2MB, 24 pages)
Source:
The Fraser Institute

Counterpoint from
The Wellesley Institute:

Fraser Institute defines poverty out of existence...
May 8, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
There are two ways to reduce poverty: The best way is to get money into the hands of low-income people and adopt other practical and effective measures, such as affordable housing, education and training and so on. The other way is to define poverty out of existence by statistical sleight of hand: Tell the poor, and everyone else, that the poor aren’t really poor, and hope that they just go away. (...) Defining poverty rates so low that virtually no one in Canada could be called poor may make good ideological fodder, but in the real world that most people inhabit, Sarlo’s dollars just don’t make any sense.

-----------------

The Relativity of LICO (PDF file - 82K, 2 pages)
by Chris Sarlo
"A relative line, such as LICO, may be useful as a marker of what income is required to keep from falling behind the mainstream, but is not useful at all as a measure of what income people need to avoid being 'straitened.'"
Source:
November 2003 Fraser Forum
[ Fraser Institute ]

Poverty and the Federal Government (PDF file - 115K, 2 pages)
November 2002
by Chris Sarlo
"My own measure [of poverty] is one of so called “absolute poverty” and attempts to reveal serious material deprivation (hunger, inadequate housing, deprived living conditions)—not a lack of social comforts."
Source:
November 2002 Fraser Forum - Taming Media Myth

Related Links: Read the Sarlo article above, then read an opposing viewpoint by David Ross, former Director of the Canadian Council on Social Development. Rethinking Child Poverty - David Ross,summer 1999 Child Poverty in Canada: Recasting the Issue - David Ross, April 1998 "According to the Fraser [Institute] analysis, child poverty is really only a problem among those who live in families where incomes are so low that the parents cannot even afford adequate food and shelter (...) let me remind them that Canada is not a Third World country." Source : Canadian Council on Social Development

The Adequacy of Welfare Benefits in Canada
by Joel Emes and Andrei Kreptul
April 1999
- Compares welfare benefits in 1998 by province with Christopher Sarlo's Basic Needs Lines. Includes information on earnings exemptions and special assistance, plus Pre-Tax Wage Equivalence charts explaining how much a working person would have to earn to end up with the same annual "net income" as an income assistance (IA) recipient.
Executive Summary
Complete Report (PDF file - 427K, 30 pages)

Fraser Institute proposes an alternative to the United Nations' Human Development Index
Media Release
24 October 2001
Canada ranks sixteenth on the Fraser Institute's Measuring Development: An Index of Human Progress, released today. This new publication provides a more complete view of the recent history and current state of development throughout the world than does the United Nations' often-quoted Human Development Index. The Fraser Institute's Index of Human Progress ranks the United States first, Switzerland second, Luxembourg third, Denmark fourth, and Japan fifth. Canada ranked sixteenth in 1999 out of 128 countries.
- Measuring Development: An Index of Human Progress (PDF file - 521K, 63 pages)

Related Link:

Human Development Reports - from the U.N.

Fraser Forum (selected articles about poverty)
NOTE : Since the site redesign in March 2002, you can only access the latest issues of Fraser Forum from the Fraser home Page. If you want to find the articles below, you'll have to do a publications search on the new site.

- October Questions & Answers and October Graph : What is Canada’s poverty line and how is it measured? (October 2001) - Time Reveals the Truth about Low Income (September 2001) - Measuring Poverty (September 2001) - Popular Myths About Poverty - (July 2001) - What is Best For Children? (June 2001) - Defining True Poverty (March 2001) - Child Poverty & Child Hunger (December 2000) - How Important is the Poverty Issue? (July 2000) - Polls and Poverty (June 2000) - Funny Data (April 2000)

- A Poor Trick (March 2000) - Social Activists and Poverty (February 2000) - Let’s Get Real! (November 1999) - Measuring Child Poverty (October 1999) - CBC4Kids Gives a Poor Primer on Poverty (October 1999) - The Problem of Homelessness (June 1999) - Poorest of the Poor Part II (April 1999) - Misconceptions about “Basic Needs” Poverty Lines (February 1999) - The Market-Basket Approach to Measuring Poverty (October 1998) - Defining Poverty  (May 1998) - The Problems with LICO (June 1998) - The Myth of Child Poverty (October 1997)

Canada Revenue Agency

Income Statistics

"The annual Income Statistics reports -- formerly called Taxation Statistics -- use tables of data to create a profile of Canadian taxpayers. The reports use data from personal tax returns filed two years earlier. For example, the 2002 edition analyzes returns from the 2000 tax year, which had to be filed by the end of April 2001.
As many clients have requested, we publish two separate reports:
Final Statistics - Sample Data: Produced since the 1940s, this report presents detailed profiles of Canadian taxfilers based on a stratified random sample of individual tax returns. This report contains Tables 1 to 12, which is the complete series.
Interim Statistics - Universe Data: This report contains preliminary statistics based on the universe of all returns filed and processed during a given tax year."

Canadian Council on Social Development
The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is one of Canada's most authoritative voices promoting better social and economic security for all Canadians. A national, self-supporting, non-profit organization, the CCSD's main product is information and its main activity is research, focussing on concerns such as income security, employment, poverty, child welfare, pensions and government social policies.

Poverty Lines - last updated: June 20, 2006
Before-Tax Low-Income Cut-Offs (LICOs), 2005
The LICOs are published by Statistics Canada. Persons and families living below these income levels are considered to be living in "straitened circumstances." There are 35 different LICOs, varying according to family size and size of community. The LICOs are more popularly known as Canada's poverty lines.

Free Statistics --- 65+ tables!
Canadian (current and historical) poverty lines
- includes several texts explaining how poverty lines work, before- and after-tax poverty lines, welfare incomes as a percentage of the poverty line, etc.
Poverty Statistics
- historical poverty rates, including specific populations - the elderly, children (national and provincial-territorial breakdowns), urban poor, Aboriginal children - plus a 1998 presentation by David Ross (former CCSD Executive Director) on different outcomes for high- and low-income children, perceptions of poverty over time and much more

Welfare
- Canadian welfare rates (benefit levels), caseload statistics by province and territory, etc.
Income
- Census shows growing polarization of income in Canada - average incomes by family type, Canada, 1991 and 1996 - average and median family incomes by province - income distribution and the precarious middle class, distribution of income by quintiles, etc.
Miscellaneous
- incl. "25 Indicators of social development - Canada, the US, Sweden" - Minimum Wage Rates in Canada & the Provinces - Costs of Raising a Child - more...

Research Reports
- links to dozens of reports dating back to the mid-1990s

Sampling of CCSD poverty reports:

Income Inequality as a Determinant of Health
April 6, 2004
A report on population health by Health Canada, based on papers and presentations by CCSD's Katherine Scott.

Personal Security Index 2003:
A reflection of how Canadians feel five years later
November 2003
"Canadians increasingly anxious despite positive indicators
Canadians have a little more spending money in their pockets and more confidence in their job security, but they are less satisfied with the ability of their incomes to meet their basic needs – and increasingly anxious about Canada’s health and social safety nets. These are the findings of the five-year review, 1998 to 2002, of the Personal Security Index."

Defining and Re-Defining Poverty: A CCSD Perspective
October 2001
This position paper briefly presents the Canadian Council on Social Development's perspective on poverty lines, with recommendations to Statistics Canada and the federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Low Income Trends in the 1990s
January 2001
Includes : Defining Low Income - The Causes of Low Income - An Overview of Low Income Incidence and Trends in the 1990s - Depth of Low Income - Duration of Low Income - Future Prospects
 

What's Behind a Poverty Line? Backgrounder on Statistics Canada's Income in Canada
June 9, 2000
Backgrounder

Income and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate (May 1999)
We believe that a poverty line should not only be used as a way to estimate the number of poor people, it should also be considered as a threshold, below which society will not tolerate income inequality.
(From the Measuring Poverty section of the report)

The Social Indicators Launchpad - links to 65+ sites about social indicators

Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) - Canada
"The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is a non-profit, national, independent organization that seeks to contribute to a better understanding of trends in and determinants of productivity, living standards and economic and
social well-being through research."

Index of Economic Well-being
Has economic well-being increased or decreased in recent years, and is it higher or lower in one country compared to others? Traditionally these questions have been answered by looking at trends in and comparisons of GDP per capita, but this is a poor measure of economic well-being. It measures consumption incompletely, ignoring the value of leisure and longer life spans, and it also ignores the value of accumulation for future generations. Furthermore, since it is an average, GDP per capita gives no indication of the likelihood that an individual will share in prosperity nor of the degree of anxiety with which individuals contemplate their futures."
- incl. links to:
Introduction and Methodology - The Index for Canada -The Index for Canada and the United States - The Index for Canada and the Provinces - The Index for OECD Countries - An Index of Labour Market Well-being - Weighting tool for Canada and OECD Countries.

---

New Estimates of Index of Economic Well-being for Canada and OECD Countries
December 3, 2009
On December 3, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) released updated estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality and economic security) for Canada and the provinces and for selected OECD countries. Both in Canada and across the OECD, economic well-being has increased over the past quarter century as a result of growing per-capita consumption and wealth. However, rising economic inequality and insecurity have dampened the growth of overall economic well-being. The Index of Economic Well-being is consistent with most of the recommendations of the recently released Commission for the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (the Stiglitz report) on what aspects of economic reality an index of economic well-being should capture.

The CSLS also released a third report addressing the measurement of economic security in the Index of Economic Well-being.

Measuring Economic Security in Insecure Times:
New Perspectives, New Events, and the Index of Economic Well-being (PDF - 870K)
December 2009

New Estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being
for Selected OECD Countries, 1980-2007 (PDF - 3.5MB)
(December 2009
Appendix Tables (PDF - 1.5MB)
Press release - December 3, 2009

New Estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being
for Canada and the Provinces, 1981-2008 (PDF - 3.2MB)
December 2009
Appendix Tables (PDF - 1.5MB)
Press release - December

Related link:

More information
about the Index of Economic Well-being (from CSLS)

Source:
CSLS Research Reports <=== links to dozens of reports back to 1997
[ Centre for the Study of Living Standards ]
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) was established in August 1995 to undertake research in the area of living standards. The two main objectives of CSLS are to contribute to a better understanding of trends in living standards and factors determining trends through research and to contribute to public debate on living standards by developing and advocating specific policies through expert consensus.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Growing Gap, Growing Concerns: Poll
Press Release
November 20, 2006
[version française du communiqué:
Sondage : Écart croissant, préoccupations croissantes]
TORONTO – A record high number of Canadians think Canada’s gap between rich and poor is growing – and it’s causing them concern, according to an Environics Research poll conducted for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The poll reveals three-quarters (76%) of Canadians believe Canada’s gap between rich and poor has grown compared to 10 years ago. That number is up from 2003, when 70% thought the gap had grown. In 1990, 68% of Canadians thought the gap had grown.

Complete report:

November 20, 2006
GROWING GAP,
GROWING CONCERNS:
Canadian Attitudes Toward Income Inequality (PDF file - 1MB, 14 pages)
"(...)while many Canadians think that the “rags to riches” story is possible to achieve in Canada, half say that they themselves are only one or two missed pay-cheques away from economic disaster."

Related Link:

The GrowingGap
The growinggap.ca is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Inequality Project, a national project to increase public awareness about the alarming spread of income and wealth inequality in Canada.

Brief to the Senate on Urban Child Poverty (2008) (PDF - 187K, 14 pages)
In February 2008, First Call Chair Michael Goldberg presented to the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology on the topic of urban child poverty. This briefing is an overview of topics including measuring poverty; child poverty rates; and the interaction between market income, social security benefits, taxation and statutory deductions, and income tested social programs.
Source:
First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
First Call is a coalition of individuals and organizations whose purpose is to create greater understanding of and advocacy for legislation, policy, and practice to ensure that all children and youth have the opportunities and resources required to achieve their full potential and to participate in the challenges of creating a better society.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Indicators of Well-being in Canada
All indicators in the Work area have been updated with the latest data, as well as the following indicators in the Health area:
* Life Expectancy at Birth
* Low Birth Weight
* Infant Mortality
[Click the link above and then (on the next page) select any of the following indicators in the left margin:
* Work * Learning * Financial Security * Family Life * Housing * Social Participation * Leisure * Health * Security * Environment]

January 2008
Indicators of Well-being in Canada
This new HRSDC website presents comprehensive, up-to-date information on the well-being of Canadians and Canadian society, and how that may be changing over time.
- incl. links to info about : Work | Learning | Financial Security | Family Life | Housing | Social Participation | Leisure | Health | Security | Environment

"(...) How many Canadians have a paying job? What levels of education do we have, and how does that compare with other countries? What proportion of marriages end in divorce? How long can we expect to live? Have there been any big changes over the last 20 years or so? This website helps to answer such questions. Developed by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), its purpose is to systematically present measures and report on various aspects of well-being that are important to Canadians."

----------------------------------------------------

Poverty and Child Well-Being in Canada and the United States:
Does it Matter How We Measure Poverty?
Final Report
September 2000
"(...) In this paper we examine the possibility that conclusions about the association between poverty and children's well-being may be sensitive to choices made about how to measure 'poverty.' In particular, we focus upon the influence of data set chosen, sample selected and poverty line used. Throughout, the analysis is conducted for children in both Canada and the United States, both to emphasize that these issues are not unique to the Canadian situation and to point out the influence of measurement choices upon our understanding of Canada/US comparisons of children's poverty and/or well-being. The principal data sets used are the Survey of Consumer Finance and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth for Canada and the Current Population Survey and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth — Mother/Child Supplement for the United States."
Complete paper (HTML)
Complete paper (PDF) (727K, 37 pages)

Market Basket Measure (MBM)

In 1997, Canada's ministers responsible for social services mandated the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Social Development Research and Information to develop a new measure of low income in Canada to complement existing measures. The Applied Research Branch of Human Resources Development Canada developed the MBM in consultation with provincial and territorial governments.

Key MBM Documents from
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada:

Low Income in Canada: 2000-2007 Using the Market Basket Measure
August 2009
The Market Basket Measure (MBM) is a measure of low income based on the cost of a specified basket of goods and services. It was designed to complement two Statistics Canada measures of low income: the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs) based on average consumption patterns and the Low Income Measure (LIM) based on median incomes. The MBM is far more sensitive to geographical differences in living costs than these other measures.

- includes links to the individual chapters and appendices; the table of contents appears below.
- also includes links to a Highlights page and the full text in one PDF file (both of these links appear below)

Table of Contents:
* 1. Introduction
* 2. Low Income Measures: Conceptual Differences
* 3. The Market Basket Measure
* 4. The Results
* 5. A Focus on the "Working Poor"
* 6. High Risk Groups
* 7. Conclusion
* 8. Introduction to Tables 7-10
* Appendix A - Methodological Annex
* Appendix B - Health Canada's National Nutritious Food Basket - 1998
* Appendix C - Revised Clothing and Footwear component (2005) based on January 2001 Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and Winnipeg Harvest Acceptable Level of Living (A.L.L)
* Appendix D - Percentage of Rental Units in which Various Appliances are included in the Rent, Labour Force Survey (LFS) Rent Supplement, Average of June to December 2000
* Appendix E - Cities in which transportation items are collected 1
* Appendix F - Survey of Household Spending (SHS) Items Included in Other Expenses Calculation: Numerator
* Appendix G - MBM Thresholds for Reference Family by Component 2007($)

Complete report (PDF - 458K, 89 pages)

Highlights
(Excerpts)
* The national incidence of low income fell from 14.6% in 2000 to 10.1% in 2007.
* This decline in incidence was widespread across all age groups with children under 18 experiencing the largest decline since 2000 (6.2 percentage points to 11.9% in 2007).
* Among age groups, the incidence among seniors was the lowest; falling from 5.5% in 2000 to 2.6% in 2007.
* The national incidence of low income in 2007 was higher using the MBM (10.1%) than Statistics Canada's post-income tax Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs-IAT) (9.2%).1 This pattern was repeated for most sub-groups.

***

See also:

Low Income in Canada: 2000-2006 Using the Market Basket Measure
October 2008

Low Income in Canada: 2000-2004 Using the Market Basket Measure
November 2007 (PDF file date)

Low Income in Canada: 2000-2002 Using the Market Basket Measure
June 2006

Understanding the 2000 Low Income Statistics Based on the Market Basket Measure
May 2003
- incl. links to: Understanding the 2000 Low Income Statistics Based on the Market Basket Measure - Interpreting the Statistical Tables -
Appendix A - Methodological Annex (incl. a comparison of LICOs-IBT [Pre-income tax Low Income Cut-offs], LIM-IAT [Post- income tax Low Income Measure] and the Market Basket Measure (MBM) - Distinctive Features of the MBM - Composition of the MBM [detailed info on the items that make up the basket]
Appendix B - Health Canada's National Nutritious Food Basket - 1998
Appendix C - Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and Winnipeg Harvest - January 2001 Acceptable Level of Living (A.L.L.) 2000
Appendix D - Percentage of rental units in which various appliances are included in the rent, Labour Force Survey (LFS) rent supplement, average of June to December 2000
Appendix E - Cities in which transportation items are collected
Appendix F - Survey of Household Spending (SHS) items included in Other Expenses calculation: numerator
Appendix G - Market Basket Measure (MBM) thresholds for reference family by component ($)

Constructing the Revised Market Basket Measure
April 2002
Technical Paper
Full text (HTML format)
Full text (PDF format - 39K, 17 pages)

---

Applied Research Bulletin
Volume 7, number 1 (Winter-Spring 2001)
- includes articles about the relationship between children and their communities, vulnerable children, persistently high unemployment, "longer on welfare, harder to get off welfare", information about the Market Basket Measure of Poverty [describes modification of methodology--adding a separate transportation component], human and social capital, aging of the population and the labour market, Job Futures

Poverty and Child Well-Being in Canada and the United States:
Does it Matter How We Measure Poverty?
September 2000

The Market Basket Measure—Constructing a New Measure of Poverty
September 1998

**********************************
From the National Council of Welfare (which is part of HRSDC):

Income for Living?
Spring 2004
"Income for Living? is the first report in which the Council looked at the new Market Basket Measure (MBM) poverty line. It compares four different income types: welfare, minimum wage, low wage, and average wage. The research showed that some Canadians working full-time lived in poverty and could not afford average housing and child care costs."

NOTE: To find this report, click the above link to the Council's new (summer 2010) website and use the search engine.

**********************************

MBM Background Analysis/Commentary

NOTE: To find any National Council of Welfare report, click the link below to the Council's new (summer 2010) website and use the site search engine.

Full Time Workers Still in Poverty
Press Release
May 3, 2004
"Many Canadians in full-time jobs did not make it to the poverty line in 2000, said the National Council of Welfare in a report released today. Full-time, full-year jobs at minimum wages left workers in poverty. The National Council of Welfare found take-home incomes were consistently below the most commonly-used poverty line, the Low Income Cut-offs or LICOs from Statistics Canada. But the situation looked just as bad using the new Market Basket Measure (MBM) of poverty – even though this new poverty line sets the bar a little lower. There were a few exceptions to the rule, mostly in Quebec where minimum-wage workers made it over the MBM line."

Income for Living?
(complete report)
Spring 2004
HTML version
PDF version (417K, 96 pages)
Executive Summary (HTML)

Fact Sheet : Definitions of the Most Common Poverty Lines used in Canada
June 2003

Source:
National Council of Welfare
Advisory body of the Minister of Human Resources Development Canada (now Social Development Canada)

The Market Basket Measure: The Report, The Response
June 9, 2003
Source:
Charity Village

Concerns about the Market Basket Measure
by Chris Sarlo
Source:
Fraser Forum - July 2003

From the
University of Victoria Department of Geography:

January 2010
Recent supplements to
The British Columbia Atlas of Wellness:

The original report:

The British Columbia Atlas of Wellness (2007)
The BC Atlas of Wellness was created in partnership with the University of Victoria Geography Department, and it uses the ActNow BC initiative (2005) as a framework to present its findings. It consists of more than 270 maps and supporting tables that provide data related to approximately 120 wellness-related indicators for B.C. communities, where positive and negative indicators are offset against each other to give an overall wellness score.

What's new?

Supplements to The BC Atlas of Wellness,
(organized in reverse chronological order)
based on data from the Canadian Community Health Survey:

* The Geography of Wellness and Well-being Across BC (2010)
This Supplement examines geographic patterns of wellness and wellbeing among the province's 16 Health Service Delivery Areas.

* The Geography of Wellness and Well-being Across Canada (2009)
This Supplement examines geographic patterns of wellness and wellbeing among Canadian provinces and territories, and it examines differences between genders and among differing age cohorts at the national and individual provincial and territorial levels.

* The Seniors Supplement (2008)
This supplement focuses on seniors’ wellness, and it provided maps of 39 separate indicators at the 16 Health Service Delivery Areas level for the province based on the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey.

Critical Synthesis of Wellness Literature (PDF - 412K, 45 pages)
By Gord Miller and Leslie T. Foster
May 2009

< Begin first lament of February 2010. >

1. A cautionary tale for would-be Flash site designers: DON'T!
Except for the bottom link above, which is a PDF file, the rest of the Atlas of Wellness pages are designed in Flash.
ARGH. Good luck bookmarking these reports or finding your way back to them later.
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
See Flash Sucks .org
2. Pleeeeeeze date your reports!
3. FILESIZES!!! The complete original Atlas is a 145MB PDF file.
C'mon --- this is ridiculous even for someone with a high-end broadband connection.
The individual chapter downloads for all of the reports are all way too large.
The "Critical Synthesis" file above is the only one that appears reasonable in size.
If your web design team can't optimize PDF files, try contracting out to an outfit that does.

< /End first lament of February 2010. >

********************************

Related links:

ActNow BC initiative (BC Govt.)
ActNow BC was introduced in early 2005 to encourage British Columbians to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their quality of life, reduce the incidence of preventable chronic disease, and reduce the burden on the health care system. ActNow BC is an integrated, government-wide approach that engages the contributions of partners in other levels of government (e.g., municipalities), non-government organizations, schools, communities, and the private sector to develop and deliver programs and services to assist individuals to quit or never start smoking, to be more physically active, eat healthier foods, achieve and maintain a healthy weight, and make healthy choices in pregnancy.

---

From BC Stats:

An interactive version of the Canadian Community Health Survey
(2005, 2007 and 2008) wellness indicators and socio-economic census variables (2006):

* Mapping and Geography

* Atlas of Wellness

---

From the
Vancouver Sun:

Wellness atlas looks into what makes a healthy life in B.C.
By Craig McInnes
January 10, 2008
(...) Now geographers at the University of Victoria have published an atlas of the province that looks at more than 100 indicators they relate to wellness. The British Columbia Atlas of Wellness by Leslie Foster, a former senior public servant with the provincial government and an adjunct professor at UVic, Peter Keller, the dean of social sciences, and a baker's dozen of other contributors includes obvious topics such as smoking, healthy eating and exercise. But it also includes dozens of other factors that speak to a more sophisticated definition of what goes into supporting a healthy life. They look at family structure, employment rates, the availability of emotional support, graduation rates and whether students feel safe at school.They look at access to playing fields, whether babies are breast fed, weight, the ephemeral question of whether people are satisfied with their lives and even hours of sunshine..."

**********************************

Related links:

Health
List of Topics:
* Health Behaviours * Non-medical Determinants of Health * Health Resources * Rural Health * Health Services Utilization * Health Status
Source:
Atlas of Canada (Govt. of Canada)

Québec:

Taking the Measure of Poverty, Proposed indicators of poverty,
inequality and social exclusion to measure progress in Québec:
Advice to the Minister (PDF - 311K, 80 pages)
Centre for the study of poverty and exclusion
2009 (file dated September 21/09)
------------------------
version française :
Prendre la mesure de la pauvreté, Proposition d’indicateurs de pauvreté,
d’inégalités et d’exclusion sociale afin de mesurer les progrès réalisés au Québec
Avis au ministre (fichier PDF - 668 Ko., 71 pages)
Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion
2009
------------------------
One of the mandates of the Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion is to propose, to the minister of Emploi et Solidarité sociale, measures and indicators of poverty, inequality and social exclusion to measure progress in Québec in the implementation of the Act to combat poverty and social exclusion. This advice is a first proposition in that direction.
[ more reports by CEPE ]
Source:
Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion (English home page)
The Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion (CEPE) is an observation, research and discussion centre entrusted with providing reliable and rigourous information, notably of a statistical nature, on poverty and social exclusion issues. (...) One of the main mandates of the CEPE is to develop and recommend to the Minister a series of indicators to be used in measuring poverty and social exclusion and social and economic disparities, as well as other indicators of poverty.

-------------------------------------------------

Annuaire de statistiques sur
l’inégalité de revenu et le faible revenu, édition 2008 (PDF - 1.4MB, 190 pages)
[ annual statistics on income inequality and low income in Quebec, Ontario and Canada ]
December 2008
---
NOTE: this report is available in French only.
Read the abstract below to get a sense of the content of this report, and then click the link above and use Google Language Tools to translate the text and tables for you.
---
Abstract:
The income inequality and low income of families and individuals are themes for which statistical information is necessary for society in general, and, in particular, for public policy makers. In fact, it is essential to observe the economic situation of the population in order to make social policies capable of reducing inequality and improving the fate of those less fortunate. To this end, this publication mainly presents a collection of some one hundred detailed tables, and provides figures on the historical evolution of the indicators commonly used to measure income inequality and low income. The statistics in these tables are based on different units of analysis (family units or persons) and on various income concepts (after-tax income, market income or total income). Their universes are defined geographically (Québec, the provinces and Canada, the administrative regions and the regional county municipalities of Québec) and sociodemographically (age, sex, education level, labour market participation, main source of income and family type). The publication includes an analysis that shows the evolution of the indicators since the last three decades and a guide on the concepts and methods used.

Table of contents (unofficial translation):
Chapter 1 - Analysis (income inequality, low income) [incl. comparison of Quebec, Ontario and Canada]
Chapter 2 - Data, definitions and methodological notes [incl. info about indicators of inequality and low income used in Quebec, Ontario and Canada]
Chapter 3 - Detailed tables on income inequality (35 tables) and low income (58 tables)
[Click the "Annuaire" link above to access the complete report.]

Source:
Living Conditions and Well-being
- includes links to English descriptions of over two dozen reports (all in French only, but some with English highlights pages) filed under the following categories:
* Literacy * Inequality and Poverty * Day care * The Elderly * Social Data * Social Portrait * Spousal violence * Family violence
[ Publications by statistical sector ]
[ Institut de la statistique du Québec:
The mission of the Institut de la statistique du Québec is to provide reliable, relevant and objective statistical information on the socioeconomic evolution of Québec. It is also responsible for conducting statistical surveys of general interest. Thus, the Institut, via the production of quality statistics supporting the public debate, plays a preponderant role in Québec society. ]

Is Child Poverty Up or Down?
January 2007
The Tyee [an independent alternative daily newspaper in BC] has an interesting article, Child Poverty is Down. No, it's Up, about two reports issued in the last couple months about child poverty. One report issued by the Fraser Institute claims that less than six per cent of Canadian children live in poverty; the other report issued by Campaign 2000 said the poverty rate for Canadian children was more than three times that, over 17 per cent. The Fraser Institute and Campaign 2000 define poverty very differently. The Fraser Institute includes the cost of only subsistence levels of food, clothing, housing and a few other necessities, while Campaign 2000 uses Stats Canada low income cutoffs below which families would find themselves living in "straitened circumstances."
Source of this commentary
and these links:
PovNet

A Surge in Wealth Inequality
December 14, 2006
Posted by Andrew Jackson
"There was a fair amount of media coverage of the new data on assets and debt from the 2005 Survey of Financial Security released by Stats Can last week (...) Slightly buried in the new paper is evidence that wealth inequality is increasing at an even faster rate than was the case in the 1990s, and that the distribution is becoming ever more skewed to the very affluent.

Source:
Relentlessly Progressive Economics

Related Links:

Revisiting wealth inequality
December 2006
René Morissette and Xuelin Zhang
Source:
Statistics Canada

December 13, 2006
Study: Inequality in wealth, 1984 to 2005
The gap between the nation's families with the highest net worth and those with the lowest widened between 1999 and 2005, in part because of gains in the value of housing, a new study shows.The study, published today in Perspectives on Labour and Income, ranked family units into five groups, or quintiles, from the lowest net worth to the highest. Each represented 20%, or one-fifth, of all families. Between 1999 and 2005, the median net worth of families in the top fifth of the wealth distribution increased by 19%, while the net worth of their counterparts in the bottom fifth remained virtually unchanged.

Source:
Statistics Canada

Poverty in Canada — Resources
Poverty in Canada: News & Selected Reports

Recommended reading!

Source:
Intraspec.ca
"Intraspec.ca presents readings, writings and research on selected subjects, including AIDS reversal, astrology, blood-type diets, Enneagram, finding a doctor, homelessness and poverty in Canada (bolding added), influenza, job search, legal aid, medical marijuana, memes, personality types, Nordic Walking, nutrition, Ottawa walk-in clinics, and more." [excerpt from the site index]

New publication groups together poverty indicators
Press Release
November 10, 2005
"The Institut de la statistique du Québec presents, in collaboration with the ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, the Inventaire des indicateurs de pauvreté et d'exclusion sociale. This publication inventories the various indicators that define and measure poverty. (...) Over 67 indicators and indices have been listed in three chapters: 32 of them are poverty and social exclusion indicators, 29 are related to poverty and social exclusion, and 6 are social development indices. The inventory has two objectives: first, to cover all aspects of poverty and the various angles from which it can be examined. It also aims at opening new avenues by presenting not only the indicators that have already been calculated for Québec, but also those that are used elsewhere (elsewhere in Canada, Europe, the United States and Australia) and which could be used in future compilations with a view to broadening the range of statistics available. Among the poverty and social exclusion indicators are various measures of poverty defined as insufficiency of income and its consequences."

NOTE: the complete report is available only in French,
but you can use the Google Language Tool to translate words, paragraphs or even entire pages of text. Try it!!

Complete report:

Inventaire des indicateurs de pauvreté et d'exclusion sociale (464K, 95 pages)
November 10, 2005
Table of Contents (my translation):
Chapter 1 - Indicators of poverty and social exclusion: Measures (covering 14 different indicators) - Depth of poverty - Persistence of poverty - Links with governmental transfers - Inequality - Living conditions
Chapter 2 - Indicators related to poverty and social exclusion: Family wealth and income - Household expenses - Employment - Food security - Housing - Health - Education
Chapter 3 - Social development indices
- includes eight tables showing various low income thresholds for Quebec, Canada and the U.S.

Source:
Institut de la statistique du Québec (English Home Page)

Consumption Poverty in Canada 1969 to 1998 - PDF file - 256K, 37 pages
Krishna Pendakur
Economics, Simon Fraser University

C.D. Howe Institute
Since its formation in 1973, the C.D. Howe Institute has earned a reputation as Canada's most respected independent, nonprofit economic and social policy research institution.

Perceptions of Poverty: Correcting Misconceptions about the Low-Income Cutoff (PDF, 6 pages)
Backgrounder
April 2000

Selected Publications on Income and Well-Being by Lars Osberg*
*McCulloch Professor of Economics , Dalhousie University

Links to a large collection of full-text reports, articles and studies on income and well-being by Prof. Osberg (some with co-authors) - includes publication details and abstracts for every document
Sample content:

An Index of Labour Market Well-being for OECD Countries (with Andrew Sharpe)
Human Well Being and Economic Well Being: What Values Are Implicit in Current Indices?
Inequality
Time, Money and Inequality in International Perspective
Trends in Poverty: The UK in International Perspective - How Rates Mislead and Intensity Matters
Needs and Wants - What is Social Progress and How Should it be Measured?
Poverty Among Senior Citizens: A Canadian Success Story in International Perspective
Poverty in Canada and the USA: Measurement, Trends and Implications (CEA Presidential Address - revised 6/7/00)
Poverty Trends and the Canadian "Social Union"
Publication Details Abstract Download PDF
International Comparisons of Poverty Intensity - with Kuan Xu (JHR version)
Poverty Durations and Poverty Measurement - with Kuan Xu (CEA Conference version - comments welcome)
Poverty Intensity - How Well Do Canadian Provinces Compare? with Kuan Xu
Sustainable Social Development
Economic Insecurity
...and many, many more.

Quality of Life Research Unit (University of Toronto)
The Quality of Life Research Unit is one of several research units within the Centre for Health Promotion in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Our purpose is to carry out quality of life research that relates to communities, families, and individuals from a variety of population groups.

Quality of Life Research Projects
Great collection of links  - includes Seniors' Participatory Project - Inequality and Health Quality of Life Profile - Quality of Life of People With Developmental Disabilities (A four year longitudinal study) - The Family Quality of Life Project - Quality of Life of Seniors - Quality of Life of Adolescents - The Childrens' Quality of Life Project - Community Quality of Life - Quality of Life of Persons with Physical and Sensory Disabilities
Related Links - see The Social Indicators Launchpad from the Canadian Council on Social Development

Acceptable Living Level 2003 - January 2004 (PDF file, 391K, 82 pages)
"The 2003 Acceptable Living Level Report represents a continued effort to inform and educate the public on the realities of poverty in Manitoba. It seeks to address and abolish the myths and stereotypes of poverty by providing an honest analysis of poverty in Manitoba. The primary goal of the report is to determine an adequate and disposable income or expenditure level on a market basket of goods and services that can sustain a fair, modest and acceptable
living level. This report asks “how much is too little” rather than “how much is too much.” We believe that every Manitoban has the right to an acceptable living level. The Acceptable Living Level Report originated as a challenge to devise a “better” measure of poverty for Winnipeg. The first A.L.L. Report was released in 1997 by Winnipeg Harvest and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.
Source:
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

GPI Atlantic - Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada
"GPI Atlantic is a non-profit research group, founded in 1997, to develop an index of sustainable development and well being - the Genuine Progress Index. The Nova Scotia GPI consists of 22 social, economic and environmental components, including: Time Use - Natural Capital - Environment/Quality - Socioeconomic issues - Income Distribution - Social Capita"
- incl. links to : About Us | GPINews | Publications | Presentations | Articles/Press Releases | Media Clippings | Community GPI | Membership | Current Activities | Services | Directors/Researchers | Book Store | Search | Links | Environment | RealityCheck

The Restructuring of the Canadian Welfare State: Ideology and Policy
Maureen Baker
June 1997
- includes information about the history of Canadian social programs and the transition from CAP to CHST.
- 33 pages - click on "PDF" in the lower left corner of the page to access the file

For links to resources on poverty measures in the U.S and elsewhere in the world,,
go to the Canadian Social Research Links International Poverty Measures page

For links to social program statistics for Canada and other countries,
go to the Canadian Social Research Links Social Statistics page

For info on asset-based approaches to social policy,
see the Canadian Social Research Links Asset-Based Social Policies Links page

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E-MAIL: gilseg@rogers.com