New book by York U prof aims to put poverty back on national agenda


A York University professor’s new book aims to put reduction of poverty
back on the national agenda with an examination of how government policy is
negatively impacting Canadians’ health and quality of life.

“In a wealthy, industrialized nation like Canada, poverty is simply not on
our radar. It gets swept under the rug,” says Dennis Raphael, Undergraduate
Program Director of York’s School of Health Policy and Management, and
author of Poverty and Policy in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality
of Life which is published by Canadian Scholars’ Press Incorporated and was
released last week.

“There is evidence that Canadians appreciate that eliminating poverty is a
worthwhile goal,” Raphael says. “Politicians and elected governments of
every political stripe promise to address it. Why, then is so little being
done?”

He points out that poverty rates reflect, overall, how our nation addresses
key public policy issues such as income distribution, employment security,
working conditions, housing, income, food security, and our network of
health and social services.

“Once such an analysis is done and Canada is found to be lacking, the
question arises, why is this the case? The reality is that Canada’s
political economy supports these public policy decisions,” says Raphael.

The statistics are staggering. According to UNICEF, Canada’s child poverty
rate during the late 1990s was 14.9%. This is the case even though Canada
is wealthier -- using the total value of goods and services or GDP -- than
most other developed nations. As an example, Denmark is not as wealthy a
nation as Canada, yet its child poverty rate during the 1990s was 2.4%,
representing a virtual elimination of child poverty. This is also the case
in many other European nations, Raphael says.

He also points to an increasing body of research which finds that poverty
rates cannot be attributed to failings of individuals. There are
characteristics that make some individuals more susceptible to falling into
poverty than others, he writes. These characteristics include being
Aboriginal, having less education, living with a disability, being female,
a recent immigrant to Canada, a person of colour, or a single parent.

“These characteristics by themselves don’t create a situation of poverty,”
Raphael says. “That situation is created when the political and economic
system does not provide employment wages or social assistance benefits at a
level for these individuals that allow for a life outside of poverty.  And
these situations are worsened when public policy does not provide
affordable housing, childcare, and health and social services, thereby
straining the resources available to these vulnerable groups.”

Raphael is optimistic that recent political developments could lead to
long-term solutions. He points to growing interest in proportional
representation as a means of sending elected officials to Canada’s
legislatures. Nations with proportional representation are more likely to
send representatives to government with a commitment to equity and poverty
reduction.

“The attitudes and values of the Canadian public need to be
better-reflected in the laws we enact,” Raphael says. “This could lead to
an era of progressive public policy in Canada. In fact, we may be on the
verge of adopting an alternative societal vision that will reduce – if not
eliminate -- poverty in Canada.”



York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching
university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the
undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international
city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a
dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff,
as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 24 research
centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is
interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This
distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future
and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York
University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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Media contact:

Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22097 /
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