Book Description

This discussion paper is designed to inform readers about some of the different ways that poverty could be measured in Canada and to provide an opportunity to present their views to government using a questionnaire at the end of the paper. Part I presents some basic facts about poverty lines: that they are relative, arbitrary, and suited for measuring incomes of groups but not of individuals, and that some are better than others but none are perfect. The rationale for having poverty lines, the Statistics Canada low income cut-offs used as a measure of poverty, and the search for alternative measures are also discussed. Part 2 reviews spending patterns in Canada as determined from the Statistics Canada Family Expenditure Survey and also mentions alternative sources of data that could be used to determine components of a poverty measure. Part 3 details some examples of market baskets of goods and services and how they are put together. Part 4 assesses how changes in poverty lines would affect the perception of poverty. The final chapter considers other issues related to poverty lines, including how many lines are needed, adjustments for family size and type, adjustments to after-tax income, updating market basket type measures, and involvement of interested parties in the determination of poverty lines.