Measure Of Poverty In Canada

According to Raphael (2011), in 2008 about 13.6% of Canadians, 14.2% of children and 13.1% of older Canadians were living in poverty. As stated by Campaign 2000 (2013), 1 in 7 children are still living in poverty, which had gone down in 2010. However, there are more families living in poverty as of right now compared to 1989. Even more disturbing is the rate of indigenous children living in poverty. In 2006, 40% of Canadian indigenous children resided in poverty. There are three ways to measure poverty. According to Campaign 2000 (2013), poverty is measured by using the Low Income Cut Off method (LICO), the second way to measure it is using the Low Income Measure (LIM) and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). Campagin 2000 mostly focuses on …show more content…
Each method used to measure poverty possesses its strengths and weaknesses. According to Raphael (2011), LICO method is the preferred method used in Canada. LICO measures an income threshold that compares how much and where an individual or a family is likely to spend their income on necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. The threshold is compared to average families or individuals. Anyone who spends more than 54.7 percent of their pre-tax income on those necessities are considered to be living below the low income cut offs. The advantage of using this method is that it correctly shows the income that is needed for Canadians to avoid poverty. Furthermore, when the pre-tax method is used the figures that are produced closely reflect the poverty rates that are provided by international organizations. The disadvantage to this method is examining if the pre-tax or post tax method would be used in order to measure the poverty rate. Additionally the LIM and LICO are based on statistical abstraction rather than a concrete view of the living conditions (Raphael, …show more content…
The percentage of children living in relative poverty rates is approximately 12 %. Furthermore, Canada ranks 13th in child poverty gaps and which means approximately 23% or more of Canadian children fall below the relative poverty line. For the percentage of children living in low family affluence Canada ranks 12th, and approximately 8% of Canadian children report living in a family with low affluence. There are three components used to assess health and safety, which are health at birth, preventive health services and child and youth mortality. For overall health and safety Canada ranks 27th out of 29, scoring in the negative at approximately -1.8 below the standard average for the group as a whole. For infant mortality rates Canada ranks 22 and a percentage of approximately 5% of infant mortality per 1,000 live births. For low birth weight Canada ranks in the top 10 at 10th place with approximately 6% of low birth babies per