In May, Hamilton’s Social Planning and Research Council (SPRC) released its Faces of Poverty report, presenting a picture of poverty in our city. The report offers a glimpse of who is most affected by issues like low income, food security and homelessness. In this episode of Vital Signs, Rudi hosts Ted Hildebrandt (Senior Social Planner, SPRC) to talk about the report and how it can inform policymaking in Hamilton.

Key quotes:

“We know that poverty is not just income based…[this measure] doesn’t take into consideration things like social inclusion, access to resources or health. It’s not the full picture of poverty.”

“We saw poverty rates go down [with Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) supports] when it was active and we expect other data sources to show that poverty rates are going back up again.”

“People in our community that are most affected are single people…people who live alone or with roommates and the challenge is they don’t have the same social supports.”

“Pensions plans have changed over time and you don’t have those same defined benefit programs. With fixed incomes [seniors] are more vulnerable to rising costs of essential goods and services.”

“The data is the starting point, not the end point of the conversation. It allows us to engage so that community is armed to talk with elected officials.”