Empty tummies
Families on social benefits struggle to eat on $6 a day
By RICK CONRAD <mailto:[log in to unmask]> / Staff Reporter
Try feeding a family on $6 a day.
No, it's not an appeal to sponsor a starving child in a developing country.
That amount is what each adult on social assistance in this province gets to
pay for food, clothing and other personal expenses.
At $180 a month, it's not nearly enough to ensure a nutritious diet for
parents or their kids, says Patricia Williams, lead investigator on the
study Working Together for Food Security in Nova Scotia.
The study was sponsored by the Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre,
the Community Action Program for Children, the Canada Prenatal Nutrition
Program and the Nova Scotia Nutrition Council.
"People are really struggling to feed their families, it's impacting on them
hugely in terms of their overall health and the health of their children,"
Ms. Williams said Wednesday.
In June and October of 2002, 72 staff members and clients from family
resource centres around the province visited 57 supermarkets and grocery
stores in pairs to find out the actual cost of a "national nutritious food
basket" of 66 basic foods.
The basket is a standard tool used by Health Canada to determine basic,
inexpensive foods needed for a "bare-bones" nutritious diet.
It includes no junk food, frozen dinners, organic or health foods, pet food
or other household items (cleaners, tissue, soap) usually bought with
groceries.
Researchers found that such a diet costs $572.70 a month for a family of
four, $440.19 a month for a two-parent family with one child and $351.68 a
month for a single-parent family with two kids.
"And that's for a no-frills diet," Ms. Williams said.
"No costly convenience foods or junk foods. No organic or health foods. No
exotic ingredients for special recipes, or for special dietary needs. No
extras for dinner guests or for holidays. No eating out."
That monthly expense is far beyond the reach of a family of four on social
assistance, Ms. Williams said.
After basic expenses like accommodation, utilities, transportation and
clothing are taken from their total government assistance of $1,546, the
family has only $277 left over for food, researchers found.
And too often, she said, parents try to save money by buying cheaper
processed foods that may be more filling but less nutritious.
"The less nutrient-dense foods but the more filling foods are the ones that
are least nutritious but also the lower cost. Those are the types of choices
that parents are being forced to make."
Welfare recipients aren't the only ones feeling the pinch, Ms. Williams
said.
Those with jobs are also susceptible to food insecurity.
The average Nova Scotia family of three with a gross salary of $47,005 a
year would have trouble making ends meet.
Karen LeBlanc of Amherst was one of the "food costers" who went out and
priced groceries in local stores.
The working mother of two preteens at home said she was surprised at how
expensive nutritious foods are.
And even though she works at the local family resource centre, she says it's
"very hard" to provide for her family, especially since she's the sole
breadwinner.
Until she got involved in the project and began talking to other parents in
similar situations, she thought she was unique.
"I realized I'm the norm as far as mid- to low-income people go," said Ms.
LeBlanc, whose family lives on about $1,600 a month.
"It's not my bad budgeting, it's the prices of food and the availability."
She said it's tough always having to tell her kids they can't have certain
foods because she can't afford them.
Breakfast cereal is especially expensive, she said.
"So you come up with other ideas for breakfast and you make sure you buy the
cheapest and you're going to make it last the longest. . . . And there are
no extra bowls. You eat your one bowl of cereal. You've got to make it
stretch."
Ms. Williams blames low wages and inadequate social assistance rates for
contributing to the problem.
"I think the root problem of it is that people really have inadequate
incomes," she said.
The provincial minimum wage - which will be $6.50 an hour as of April 1 - is
too low, she said, and it tends to keep other wages down.
Those on welfare don't get nearly enough each month for food, clothing and
other personal expenses, she said.
A two-parent family on assistance receives $360 a month.
"I think the politicians have to make some tough decisions," she said.
"It's either invest now in the health of Nova Scotians by addressing
something very basic like nutrition and making sure that people have enough
to buy nutritious foods and feed their children properly, or suffer the
consequences in terms of health-care costs in the long term."
Ursula Snyder, PhD
Editor/Program Director, Medscape Ob/Gyn & Women's Health
www.medscape.com/womenshealth
Section Editor, Ob/Gyn & Women's Health, Medscape General Medicine
www.medscape.com/mgmhome
T: +1 902 868 1892 F: +1 902 346 2048 (CANADA)
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