Canada’s largest city, Toronto, has the “dubious distinction
of being Canada’s capital of working poverty. Fewer than half of workers in the
GTHA have full-time permanent employment with benefits. More than 50 per cent
are working in temporary, part time or other less-secure jobs. Data from a
study in April that found that couples with children must make at least $18.52
an hour each to make ends meet in Toronto.
"The provincially calculated minimum wage of $11 an
hour leaves workers far below the poverty line," it said.
The concentration of poverty is growing, with the income
divide between neighbourhoods up 96 per cent from 1980 to 2010. It found the
highest levels of working poverty are in Scarborough and North York, while
poverty has decreased in the area south of Bloor-Danforth. Outside of the city,
working poverty grew by 26 per cent in Markham, 22 per cent in Brampton and 21
per cent in Richmond Hill.
Nearly half of Toronto residents live in
"low-income" neighbourhoods, while 21 per cent live in high-income
areas and 30 per cent live in middle-income areas. The low income cut-off is
estimated based on data from Statistics Canada in 2013. Tuesday's report showed
that, of low-income earners, the median income is $14,930. The median total
annual family income of the Toronto region is estimated at $72,830, nearly
$50,000 more than half of low-income earners are making.
The income gap between the richest one per cent and the
remaining 99 is now the second-biggest in Canada. Toronto's top earners share
17.4 per cent of all income earned in the area. The Toronto region is second to
Calgary, where income earners in the top one per cent share 25.1 per cent of
all annual income.
The report found that the richest one per cent share:
12.3 per cent of all wealth in Vancouver
10.4 per cent in Montreal
8.1 per cent in Regina
7.3 per cent in Halifax
10.3 per cent across Canada
The number of visits to food banks is again on the rise
after an encouraging drop in 2013. In 2014, there were 890,000 visits to city
food banks. Since 2008, there’s been a 45 per cent increase in food-bank use in
the city’s inner suburbs. Almost 12 per cent of seniors living in Toronto are
below the poverty line
The Socialist Party of Canada
Website:
E-mail:
spc@iname.com
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