GEO 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Three Cities, Main Source, Welfare
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Lecture 11 - Poverty and Food Insecurity in Everyday Lives
•The Three Cities
Identified by David Hulchanski
City #1
•Predominantly high-income area within the boundaries of the old city of Toronto
•Located in the central city and close to the city’s subway lines
•Since 1970, neighbourhood incomes have risen relative to the rest of the Census Metropolitan Area
(CMA)
City #2
•Mainly middle-income area
•Since 1970, neighbourhood incomes have remained fairly close to the CMA average
City #3
•Low-income areas in Toronto
•Since 1970, neighbourhood incomes have fallen substantially
•Mostly in the northeastern and northwestern parts of Toronto
•Growing Income Inequalities in Peel Region
•Income inequality has skyrocketed in Peel Region since 1980
•In 1980, only 2 per cent of Peel’s neighbourhoods were considered low income, but as of 2015, that
number has grown to 52 per cent
•Overall, there has been an extreme decline in middle-income neighbourhoods in Peel Region, which
reflects the notion that the middle class is disappearing
•In Brampton in particular, high- and middle-income neighbourhoods have decreased at alarming rates
•In Caledon, the entire city was once considered middle-income, and while there are no obvious pockets
of low-income neighbourhoods, high- and very high-income neighbourhoods have grown substantially
•The Report
•2017 - Report from United Way of Toronto and York Region - The Opportunity Equation in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA):
•An update on neighbourhood income inequality and polarization
•The GTA is known as the “income inequality capital of Canada”
•https://www.unitedwaygt.org/file/2017_Opportunity_Equation_Update_Low-Res.pdf
•Food Security
•Food security: “a situation in which all community residents can obtain a safe, culturally acceptable,
nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes self-reliance and social
justice”
Hamm, M, Bellows, A (2003). Community Food Security: Background and Future Directions. J Nutr Educ
Behav 35(1): 37-43.
•Canada does not have a national food policy
•What is Food Insecurity?
(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2015001/article/14138-eng.htm)
•When one or more members of a household do not have access to the variety or quantity of food that
they need due to lack of money
•Statistics Canada Community Health Survey has a Food Insecurity component with 18 questions
differentiating adult’s and children's experiences of hunger
•4 million Canadians, including 1 in 6 children,responded to at least one question affirmatively
•Number of hungry individuals in Canada has increased by 600,000 individuals from 2007 to 2012
•People who experience food insecurity also tend to report:
•Poor or fair health
•Poor functional health (an inability to perform key activities due to health problems)
•Long-term physical and/or mental disabilities that limit activity at home, work or school
•Multiple chronic conditions
•Major depression
•A perceived lack of social support, such as someone to confide in, count on, or go to for advice
•Canadian food bank usage continued to increase across the country and especially in Toronto
•Causes of Food Insecurity (according to Statistics Canada)
1.Level of Income and Source of Income
2.Number of Children in the Family
3.Type of Household
•Level of Income and Source of Income
•Low income is directly related to food insecurity
•In 2012, among low-income households, 41.4%of those with government benefits as their main source
of income experienced food insecurity
•While 23.0% of those with an alternate main source of income experienced food insecurity
•Government Benefits: where the main source of household income is one of the following:
Employment Insurance, Worker’s Compensation, Benefits from Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security
and Guaranteed Income Supplement, Provincial/Municipal Social assistance or Welfare and Child Tax
Benefit
•Alternative Sources of Income: wages and salaries, income from self-employment, dividends and
interest (e.g., on bonds and savings), job-related retirement pensions, RRSP/RRIF (Registered Retirement
Savings Plan/Registered Retirement Income Fund), child support and alimony
•Number of Children in the Family
(Child Food Insecurity)
•Childhood obesity and a poor immune system are directly linked to lower consumption of fruits and
vegetables, milk products, and lean protein
•Adults often attempt to protect their children from food insecurity by reducing the variety and quantity
of their own meals to prevent children from going hungry
•In 2011–2012, in Canada, 8.2% of adults and 4.9% of children lived in households that were food
insecure
•Children living in “government-benefit households” experienced MORE food insecurity compared to
children living in households with an alternate source of income
•http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-624-x/2015001/article/14138-eng.htm
•Type of Household
•In 2011–2012, lone-parent families with children under 18 reported the highest rate of household
food insecurity at 22.6%
•11.9% of unattached individuals experienced food insecurity
•7.1% of couples living with children under 18experienced food insecurity
•Couples with no children reported the lowest rate
•The Healthy Immigrant Effect
•Research has repeatedly found a "healthy immigrant effect"—immigrants' health is generally better
than that of the Canadian-born, although it tends to decline as their years in Canada increase