1.We do not live in the same economic times as the baby boomers did. To expect people living in poverty to climb their way out of it through hard work in current economic times is absolving ourselves of the responsibility for caring for those less fortunate. 2.Social mobility is worse in countries with greater inequalities between the richest and poorest. As Richard Wilkinson of the Spirit Level said when he spoke in Vancouver a few years ago, “If you want to live the American dream, move to Denmark.” 3.As it so happens, BC has the greatest levels of inequality between richest and poorest in Canada. And the highest poverty rates. The minimum wage is half of the living wage in Vancouver. It is unreasonable to expect welfare recipients in BC to climb their way out of this situation. We are entrapping them in poverty. 4.Research shows that people living in poverty have worse health outcomes from every illness, compared to higher income people. This isn’t just true above the poverty line, but at every step along the income ladder. When people are facing illness and poverty, which is an undisputable truth, pulling their socks up is more than double as difficult. 5.The cascading impact of poverty on poor health is further evident in places with inadequate services for the poor. Daily discrimination has been shown in over 200 international research studies to be linked to poor health. Our policies of austerity, rather than compassion and mutuality, make the problem all that much worse. How can you pull your socks up if you can’t afford socks in the first place?
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 18:29:44 +0000
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