Poverty Rate

See SDG1 – No Poverty

Status: Moving Backwards

Definition

Proportion of population living at or below the poverty line (Low income measure LIM-AT*)

*In simple terms, the Low-income measure after tax (LIM-AT) is a fixed percentage (50%) of median adjusted after-tax income of households observed at the person level, where ‘adjusted’ indicates that a household’s needs are taken into account. Adjustment for household sizes reflects the fact that a household’s needs increase as the number of members increase, although not necessarily by the same proportion per additional member.

The LIMs derivation begins by calculating the ‘adjusted household income’ for each household by dividing household income by the square root of the number of persons in the household, otherwise known as the ‘equivalence scale.’ This adjusted household income is assigned to each individual in the private household, and the median of the adjusted household income (where half of all individuals will be above it and half below) is determined over the population. The LIM for a household of one person is 50% of this median, and the LIMs for other sizes of households are equal to this value multiplied by their equivalence scale.

Unlike other low income lines, LIMs do not vary by size of area of residence.

Vision

Everyone lives above the poverty line.

Discussion

According to Statistics CanadaD1, the prevalence of low income in London, Ontario increased from 13.3% to 17% between 2005 and 2015. In total, there are 71,030 people in the low-income group according to the City of LondonE2.

The city and surrounding area has a poverty rate far higher than the national average, and higher than the provincial average and major urban areas in Canada.

London Free PressE5

Poverty Rate in London, Ontario according to most recent data available in June 2020. The rate for indigenous peoples is double the general population. The rate for newcomers is triple of the general population.

SegmentPercentage
General Population18.4%
Indigenous35.9%
Newcomers55.1%

A study published in 2015E3 shows that:

The gap between the median income of all families in London and the median income of London’s families with income below the Low Income Measure is showing signs of slow growth. Since 2006, the gap has been increasing by an average of just over 0.6% each year.

Child & Youth Network

Connections

Related indicators

  • Living Wage
  • Sense of Belonging

Local Initiatives

  1. United Way. London For All: http://unitedwayem.ca/london-for-all/ 

Supporting Evidence

  1. CBC. A quarter of London’s kids are living in poverty, Vital Signs report finds: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-community-foundation-vital-signs-1.4856931
  2. City of London. London’s Poverty Profile at a Glance (2016) : https://www.london.ca/About-London/community-statistics/city-profiles/Documents/CDP-PovertyJuly16.pdf
  3. Child & Youth Network. Poverty Trends in London: https://www.londoncyn.ca/sites/default/files/2019-06/Poverty-Trends-in-London.pdf 
  4. London For All: A Roadmap to End Poverty. Report: https://www.london.ca/city-hall/mayors-office/Documents/London-for-All-final-report.pdf 
  5. London Free Press. London Falling Behind in Poverty Battle: https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/london-falling-behind-in-poverty-battle

Data Tables

  1. Statistics Canada. Income Highlight Tables, 2016 Census:  https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/inc-rev/Table.cfm?Lang=Eng&T=302&PR=0&D1=1&D2=1&RPP=25&SR=1&S=88&O=D