Halifax/Kjipuktuk – Statistics Canada just released the most recent poverty and food insecurity data for 2022 and Nova Scotia’s rates are alarming. Some of the highlights from the data (using the Market Basket Measure and the Canadian Income Survey) include:
Poverty:
- Nova Scotia’s poverty rate increased by 52% between 2021 and 2022 (from 8.6% to 13.1%). This is the highest in the country, surpassing pre-pandemic levels in Nova Scotia.
- Lone parent families in Nova Scotia (non-elderly) saw a 64% in their poverty rate, the sharpest increase for those families in Canada, which is now 31.5% in Nova Scotia (up from 19.2%).
- Nova Scotia’s child poverty rate was 14.1%, the highest in the country, well above the national average of 9.9%, surpassing 2019 levels.
- Nova Scotia also has the highest poverty rate in Canada for persons aged 18-64, at 13.8%.
- Nova Scotia has the highest rate of poverty for persons aged 65 years and older (10.4%). The increase in elderly poverty is very concerning, reaching levels not seen since 2015. Of note, most of those seniors living in poverty were living alone and disproportionately women.
- The highest poverty rate in Nova Scotia is for males not in economic families at 33.8% (the highest in the country) compared to 31.6% for women (also the highest in the country).
- In terms of the number of people living in poverty, 83,000 were between the ages of 18 and 64, 24,000 were children, and 23,000 were seniors.
- Nova Scotia has the second highest poverty rate for racialized people at 20.6% compared to 8.6% for nonracialized, a rate that is more than double.
- 28.9% of Nova Scotia are food insecure, which is the highest in the country, with 7.3% missing meals, reducing intake, going day(s) without food (severe food insecurity); 15.4% reporting they compromise on the quality or quantity of food they consume (moderate food insecurity); and 6.1% worry about running out of food and/or have a limited selection (marginal food insecurity).
- The highest rate of food insecurity by family type for lone parent families at 57.1%.
- The highest rate of food insecurity by age is for children (under 18) at 40.5% up from 31.4 in 2021 – a 29% increase in one year.
- Food insecurity is 37.5% among racialized households compared to non-racialized at 26.8%.
Sheri Lecker, Executive Director of Adsum, reacted to the data as follows: “This data confirms what we have been seeing for the past two years. Alarmingly, increasing numbers of individuals and families have been turning to us for support with not only housing but also food and other essentials. Across every province, Nova Scotia is doing the worst job providing the bare essentials for its citizens. The statistics are cause for shame. We are failing tens of thousands of Nova Scotians right across the lifespan– children, families, adults, seniors. These statistics are from 2022 and we know that things have continued to deteriorate in this province. We know the solutions. It is in their power and it’s the mandate of the Province of Nova Scotia to act.”
Christine Saulnier, Director of CCPA-NS, said this, “We anticipated that the 2022 data would show an increase in poverty, given that the last of the pandemic support had been withdrawn and inflation had significantly increased. Seeing a 52% increase should be the wake-up call needed for the Nova Scotia government to understand just how many people are falling through the gaps in our social safety net. The increased cost of housing, food and other essentials, plus the lack of additional income support and lack of living wages, means thousands more Nova Scotians are struggling. Lifting people out of poverty can be done, we saw it during the height of the pandemic.”
Lesley Frank, Canada Research Chair in Food, Health, and Social Justice at Acadia University and CCPA-NS Research Associate, said, “This data reports that Nova Scotia has the highest rate of food insecurity in Canada and the highest on record in the 10 provinces. Most alarming, more than 1 in 3 Nova Scotian children lived in food insecure households in 2022 – the highest we have ever seen. Food insecurity in childhood is linked to a host of negative outcomes for children – across their development, and their physical and mental health as they age into adulthood. This problem will not be solved by food school lunches or emergency food offerings. Families need economic protections now so our children and our society can thrive.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Christine Saulnier, at 902-240-0926 (cell) or christine@policyalternatives.ca
Data notes: This data is from the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) and thus is based on probability sampling and excludes those people living on reserves and living in communal living. The Child Poverty Report Card reports child poverty and childhood food insecurity data – however, it relies more heavily on tax filer data and the census to report disaggregated child poverty as both include near-population level coverage.
The thresholds for the Market Basket Measure for a family of four in 2022: $52,439 in Halifax, $48,287 in Cape Breton; For an individual: $26,291. and $24,143. The poverty threshold increased by 8.74% in Cape Breton and 8.65% in Halifax.
The statistics division of the NS Department of Finance has all the details for NS here:
https://www.novascotia.ca/finance/statistics/news.asp?id=19865 (Poverty)
https://www.novascotia.ca/finance/statistics/news.asp?id=19863 (Food Security)
The CCPA-NS is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with social and economic justice issues and environmental sustainability.
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