The Benefits Of Relative Poverty In Canada

In the article, “The Case For Free Money: Why Don’t We Have Universal Basic Income,” James Surowiecki presents the benefits of a universal basic income and why it is appealing to workers and politicians. After an experiment, known as “Mincome,” implanted universal basic income in Dauphin during the 1970s, evidence clearly shows that the Canadian town received remarkable advantages, such as lowered dropout rates and hospitalization rates. The idea of universal basic income is not new, however, it is regaining popularity. Contrary to popular belief, some from both the Democratic and Republican parties support assured basic income, Surowiecki claims. The current push for universal basic income is emboldened by the rising concern of advancing

Poverty is an ongoing problem in Canada. Poverty is defined as the inability to obtain the necessities for life . Despite poverty being an ongoing problem, how to properly measure it is disputed among scholars. There are two basic formations for the measurement of poverty: the relative measurement and the absolute measurement. In Canada they are called the low income cut off, or LICO, measurement and the market basement measure, or MBM, measurement. The LICO measurement is individuated to Canada whereas the MBM measurement is a worldwide standard. Of the two the LICO measurement of poverty is most relevant for Canadian politicians. This because a relative measurement allows for policy makers to understand poverty based upon what it means

Income is an important element of the social determinants of health because it appears in many different experiences and is a key determinant of the premature mortality and premature years of lives lost from diseases among Canadians (Raphael, 2009, p 8). The poor are those who fall below the low-income cut off line as established from Statistics Canada’s data. Such people do not have the basic income for food, clothing or shelter. These are people who are either unemployed, laid - off, non-beneficiaries of social service assistance just to mention a few and are unlikely to have three meals a day. Curry -Stevens (2009, p. 52) explained that those at the bottom already show the worst form of market failure and as a result their market income is not enough for themselves and their families to survive on.

Poverty is a worldwide crisis affecting not only developing countries but, well developed countries like Canada. Although in Canada poverty is not an prevalent issue it affects families and their life style. The after tax income in 2000 was $45,800, 13 years later the after tax income has raised to $53,000 (Statistic Canada 2015). The raising income has helped diminish poverty present in Canada helping families live a healthy, happy life. With the raising income the poor are being benefited. The lowest income earned has increased by 14.6% rising from $15,100 to $17,300 (Statistic Canada 2015). The highest decile increased by 24.6% to an income of 130,600 (Statistic Canada 2015). The after tax income is rising but, the wealthy are becoming more

As Canada grows a worldwide power it has to learn to deal with several issues that plague the country ranging from economic independence from the United States of America to how to best implement healthcare for Canadian citizens. Poverty is a worldwide phenomenon that continues to be a major issue in even the most developed countries. It impacts individuals on varying levels depending on the "type" of poverty that they are experiencing be it situational, generational, absolute, relative, urban or rural and as poverty is a multi-layered issue, it is hard to objectively define (Jensen, 2009). As a result of the intricate nature of the issue, when an individual is living in a state of poverty, the negative consequences cascade to other components of life, the most notable effect is on the health of the individual.

Poverty in Canada Poverty is not an issue exclusive to poor nations as it affects economically sound and politically stable developed nations as well. In Canada, the level of of poverty is one of the highest amongst the world’s wealthiest industrialized nations, having steadily risen since the mid-1990s. Today, one in seven people within the nation live in poverty, making up a total of 4.9 million impoverished individuals. However, there is no official measurement of what officially defines poverty in Canada. Statistics Canada report that 14.9 percent of Canadians qualify as “low income”, which is less than half the median income but refuse to categorize the group as “poor”.

In the fall of 1989, the House of Commons passed a resolution stating that “This House seeks to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000.” It is now 2009, more than two decades after the plan was proposed, and almost a decade after the 2000 deadline. However, this problem has only been getting worse. According to the 2008 National Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, one out of every

The united Way report Vertical poverty examined the Canada’s census data from 1981 to 2006. According to the date “trend of poverty concentration is intensifying, even the short, additional five-year period between 2001 and 2006 (MacDonnel & Robinson, 2011, p.

Today in class we spoke about complex poverty's various factors that contribute and sustain its existence in communities like the inner-city of Winnipeg. I had learned previously that there are many factors that are involved in poverty, but not as specifically when we had the class discussion. I have learned that housing is one of the best ways to combat homelessness and poverty, but it is clear that there is more at stake.

The barriers that stand in the way of maintaining a good health vary from one country to another. Moreover, within the same country these barriers vary depending on the socio-economic status of the individual. For individuals living in Canada, the main barrier to maintaining a good health is poverty. Those mostly affect by poverty are the youth, homeless, new immigrant and the Aboriginal communities. Even though poverty does not cause diseases directly, it is a significant issue because people living in poverty are lacking the resources to mitigate diseases. Poverty affects the ability to maintain a good health indirectly through its effect on an individual’s access to adequate healthcare, appropriate housing and nutritious food.

“Did you know that one in eight homes struggle to put food on the table” (Salvation Army, 2014). Poverty is a problem that creates a bigger problem in a problem. In Canada, Canada uses three different measurements for poverty. In Canada there are populations that are at a higher risk of being in poverty then others. There are effects that affect individuals, families, and a whole population. Also, Canada has ways of benefiting families that are in poverty that need help. Therefore, Canada has done a lot to help prevent poverty but, unfortunately it helps for a short term.

In the chapter, we explore concepts that determine social class and health inequalities. The authors, Julie MuMullin, and Lorraine Davies discusses the link between social class and inequality and an individual's well-being and health. Studies have shown that people who have higher income, higher education, and better jobs are expected to live longer and do not contract sicknesses. On the other hand, individuals that with lower income, lower education, and bad jobs are expected to have shorter lives. This particular concept is consistent to what we see in Canada, a nation that provides universal health care system for all individuals. Prior to this course I was aware of the concept of “the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting

Toronto is still holding its dishonourable title as number 1 in poverty with 28.6% of its kids living in low income houses. What can we all do to help and how? A plan to change this is desperately needed but no one has stood up to the challenge. We need to make this our first priority before we can't help out anymore.

The first image of poverty that enters most people’s minds is that of a third world nation, children of industrialized nation’s are not immune. “The United States’ child poverty rate is substantially higher- often two-to-three times higher- than that of any other major western industrialized nation (Child Poverty in the United States” 2000).” Canada has it’s share of problems as well. “Canada has the second highest child poverty rate when compared against 17 other industrialized nations around the world, second only to the United States (“What We Know” 1997).” Poverty often results in a less healthy population than would be otherwise expected. The reasons for this are varied. An economically limited individual will tend to live in more cramped conditions than his wealthy counterpart. Doctors are averse to providing free or low cost health care. When poor nutrition is combined with cramped

Social and economic policy decisions impact income equality, which has an effect on the health of Canadians. Those with lower incomes are directly affected while income inequality affects the health of all Canadians through weakening of social structure (Raphael, 2002). Contrary to reports of rising net worth, a new report has been released by an Ottawa-based think tank to show Canada’s inequality problem. The top 10 percent of Canadians have seen their net worth grow by 42% since 2005 to 2.1 million in 2012. However, the bottom 10 percent saw their net worth shrink by 150 percent (Flavelle, 2014). With this new report, it challenges the idea that suggests Canadians are getting wealthier laterally (Flavelle, 2014). This paper will examine