On Monday, December 01, 1997 12:01 PM, d.raphael wrote:

Thank you Dennis,

As you I am sure are aware but many others are not, we are going to see
incredible changes to people's lives in the new years with the removal of
human rights protection for people in receipt of social assistance in
housing, the loss of any rent controls and the total restructuring of our
welfare system.

I think there is a large role for the health community to assist people in
gaining control over their lives with-in the new systems and to reflect to
the larger community the affects of the changes on their ability to parent
and maintain their health.

> As we in Ontario and Canada continue to observe the effects
> of increasing inequality on our society, I have to
> wonder about the deafening silence among many health
> promoters. [Some comments and suggestions for action on this
> list-serve would be a good start]
>
> In Ontario, we see the poorest of the poor having their
> incomes cut by 22%, hostel use increasing by 50%, and food
> banks doing a booming business...

The 22% cut is not really the story, as people's shelter costs remained the
same.  For families this meant that before the cuts 35%  of sole parents
were dipping into the money they had for food to pay for shelter an average
of $93.00 a month.  After the cut, 77% had to dip into a reduced food
allowance an average of $172.00 a month.  The estimate is that half of
these people lost their shelter, most have not been able to obtain what we
would even term adequate shelter.

For families with two parents, before the cuts 40% were paying an average
of $148. in their food money towards rent, after the cuts 65% were paying
an average of $226. out of their food money.  Again it is estimated that
half have lost their housing.

This means that in Ontario for just the children who's parents rely on
social assistance, about 175,000 are what people who work in the housing
sector would consider homeless.  No amount of parenting classes, breakfast
clubs, community kitchens and gardens are going to help these children and
their parents, in fact from my perspective they become a cruel joke.  For
the families that have managed to maintain their housing but at a cost of a
large portion of their food money going in rent the same applies.

Being an activist in both housing and welfare, I know that to date we have
not seen the regulations that are going to govern how the system changes
work, as they come in it is going to be very important for this information
to get into the hands of poor people.  I do hope health people make a
commitment to prioritize this part.

Thanks again Dennis, I am sorry to others for the Ontario specific
information.

S
--
Sherrie Tingley
Barrie Action Committee for Women
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