Myths about Poverty*

1. Poverty is the failure of the individual.

Massive increases in unemployment in Canada in recent years have not resulted from personal inadequacy. Many workers have lost their jobs for reasons beyond their control and cannot find work because it is not available. Many people are on welfare because they are temporarily unable to provide for themselves, often due to some personal or economic crisis beyond their control.

2. The poor do not want to work.

The fact is that most poor people do work full or part-time; over 60% of those heading poor families, over 70% of poor unattached individuals. If we look at the people who are dependent on welfare, we see that about 37% are children. Another 16% are single mothers, many still caring for young children. If we look at the number of welfare cases, we find that about 24% are headed by people considered to be disabled.

3. Poor people don't pay taxes.

In Ontario, poor people pay about $160 million in income taxes. Having to pay income tax starts far below the poverty line. A single mother with two children in 1991 started paying federal tax when her income reached $11,601; a single person without dependents was taxed at an income level of $6, 532. Although people on welfare don't pay income tax on their social assistance, they still pay sales tax, GST and property taxes. Refundable credits reduce the cost of tax, but don't cover the total tax paid.

4. Welfare rates are too generous.

All welfare rates are well below the poverty line. The highest rates are still 20% below; the lowest are 76% below the poverty line.

5. Poor people need to be taught basic life skills like budgeting.

Many who live far below the poverty line must spend all or most of their income on basic needs. Anyone who manages to feed and clothe a family on a very limited income already has budgeting skills.

6. The welfare system is rife with cheating and fraud.

A study conducted by a national auditing firm estimated fraud to be in the range of 3% of the Ontario welfare budget. We have reason to believe that this estimate can be generally applied to other parts of the country. On the other hand there are estimates that income tax fraud is in the order of 20%.

7. Poor families are poor because they have too many children.

Most poor families have none, one or two children. Only 15% have 3 or more children under 18.

8. We cannot afford the social programs needed to eliminate poverty.

According to per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Canada is more prosperous than all European countries. However, Canada spends less on social security and other income support measures (including UI and welfare) as a share of the GDP than most European countries. Western European countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden with economies not very different from ours have refused to tolerate high levels of family poverty. These countries provide more income and employment supports to help families with children.

9. All children in Canada are assured a decent start in life.

Recent studies show strong links between poverty and poor health and poor achievement at school. While infant mortality rates for all income groups are about half of what they were twenty years ago, according to the 1986 census the rate for the lowest income group was still about double that of the highest. Children in poor families are more likely to suffer chronic health problems than other children. They are almost twice as likely to drop out of school.

Myths and realities about children of lone parents

1. There are many single teen mothers.

While more teenaged mothers now choose to raise their children themselves rather than give up their babies for adoption, the number of teen mothers in Canada is relatively small. Only 20, 000 -- less than one per cent of all children -- lived with a teen mother in 1994. Overall, the pregnancy rates and birth rates among teens are lower now than they were in the early 1970's.

2. Lone-parent families have more children than two-parent families.

The opposite is true. The average number of children in lone parent families was 1.1 in 1995, compared to 1.4 in two-parent families.

3. All lone-parent mothers are on welfare.

Over half the children under 18 years of age who lived in a lone-parent family had a parent in the labour force: 46% lived with a full-time job holder and another 15% lived with a part-time job holder. However, lone parents with young children do rely more heavily on income support programs. More than half the children under age 12 who lived in lone-parent families had a parent who was not in the labour force.

* Source: National Anti-Poverty Organization
* Source: Canadian Council on Social Development