Poverty

Poverty is the condition of a human being who does not have sufficient economic and other resources to live with the dignity, choices and power which support full participation in society.

• The Statistics Canada 2004 before-tax Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) for an individual in a large city is $20,337; this is the equivalent of $9.78 an hour for a full-time worker.
• Over 82,000 (16%) employed Calgarians earn less than $9.00 an hour.  Women are disproportionately represented with over 50,000 earning less than $9.00 an hour (Statistics Canada, 2002).
• Over 41,000 Calgarians over the age of 25 are trying to support themselves on less than $9.00 per hour; 27,000 of these adult workers are women (Statistics Canada, 2002).
• An estimated 12.5% of Calgarians live in poverty (City of Calgary Fact Sheet: Poverty in Calgary, 2003).
• The wealthiest 10% of Calgary families have an average annual income of $248,600, while the poorest 10% earn just $13,000 – this is a 19:1 ratio and one of the highest income gaps in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2003).
• One in four Calgary households (renters and owners) are spending greater than 30% of their gross household income on housing costs, and are therefore at risk of becoming homeless (City of Calgary Fact Sheet: Poverty in Calgary, 2003).
• Over 48,000 Calgarians received food hampers in 2002, up 11% from 2001 (Calgary Food Bank, 2003).