Thursday, January 20, 2011

High Rise Poverty in Toronto

In 1981, a quarter of the families who lived in North York highrises were poor. By 2006, it was 40 per cent. During that period, median incomes for families renting North York highrises fell almost $9,000 a year to around $34,500.

Those highrises - privately-owned buildings of five storeys or more - were also more crowded: 16 per cent of families in 2006 rooms reported more than one person living in each apartment room. In 1981, that was true of just eight per cent, the report says, citing census data. Back then, North York had just seven census neighbourhoods where more than a quarter of families lived below the poverty line. By 2006, there were 41.

More Jane-Finch tenants (48 per cent) said they had cockroaches in their building than said they had no pests at all (43 per cent), 17 per cent said their apartment or another in the building had been broken into during the previous 12 months, and 46.5 per cent said elevators in their buildings broke down "frequently."

Less than four per cent of Canadian households now control more than 65 per cent of our net worth (excluding real estate.)
Canada’s CEOs 2009 rewards averaged $6.6 million. In sharp and growing contrast, workers typically pocketed about $43,000 — more than 150 times less.

From Here

No comments: