Debora Kelly
Columns
November 01, 2008 12:15 AM
Debora Kelly
Too often when we think of poverty, we envision a desperate face with huge, despair-filled eyes, unblinking as flies buzz about, a skeletal body in rags squatting on a dusty savannah in a Third World country.
Some of us may bring that image closer to home, thinking of a bedraggled street person, eyes downcast, lying on dirty cement.
Neither of these images speak to the reality of the growing number of low-income residents in York Region, whose hunger, fear and hopelessness is hidden to most of us.
What we see is roads jammed with shiny cars, bustling shopping malls, large homes and community centres filled with active, healthy-looking families.
We need to open our eyes, to see beyond what is in front of us as the rich get richer and poor get poorer.
According to a study released this week by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, poverty and the income gap has steadily risen in Canada since 1995, until our rates are among the highest in the developed world.
Most affected have been young adults and families with children, while more single-parent households and people living alone are factors in the growing income inequality.
Hello, meet York Region.
Our rich are rich. With a median family income of more than $89,000, the region ranks fifth highest in the country and second highest in the Greater Toronto Area. Yet more and more people are struggling.
One in eight of us face hardship due to low income. That’s about 113,000 people — as if Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora, King and East Gwillimbury were mostly populated by low-income residents, 32,000 of them children.
The number of low-income citizens here has more than doubled since the 2001 census, while the number of single-parent families — mostly led by women — has risen 37 per cent.
Clearly, a case can be made for the need for government to step up social services support and poverty reduction initiatives. When you throw in even more dramatic growth, fuelled mostly by newcomers to Canada, chronic underfunding of social services, not to mention the economic crisis, the situation takes on red light urgency in York Region.
We are at a tipping point — or at “the intersection of pace of growth, face of growth and place of growth”, according to a United Way of York Region report, titled “...if addressed”.
The document highlights the findings of a 1979 report that looked at Toronto’s growing suburbs, such as Rexdale and Scarborough and neighborhoods such as Jane and Finch, alongside current demographic trends and patterns in York.
The similarities are stark: culturally diverse communities experiencing relentless and unparallelled growth that is expected to continue unabated.
Our federal government must also take action. Canada spends less on cash transfers, such as unemployment and family benefits, than other developed countries and the Conservative government is one of the few among developed nations not to outline a plan to cut poverty.
By getting people talking about our needs, the United Way hopes we will work together to ensure our communities are healthy, vibrant and harmonious as we grow. The charitable organization, which supports 100 programs provided by 40 agencies, wants community members to “tell their stories” to help it continue to invest in the right programs.
Our newspaper, a United Way supporter and partner, also wants to listen.
This week, we’re launching You Speak on
yorkregion.com.
If you would like to share your story, contact me at
dkelly@yorkregion.com or 905-853-8888.
The United Way report is available at
www.unitedwayyorkregion.com