99% of Canadians who graduate high school, get full-time work, and don’t have children until in a committed relationship avoid poverty

VANCOUVER—Canadians who graduate high school, secure any kind of full-time employment and wait to have children until in a committed relationship have a 99 per cent chance of avoiding long-term poverty, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “Too often, poverty advocates and governments focus on policies that affect the poor instead of trying to understand and address those factors that cause long-term poverty in the first place,” said Christopher Sarlo, Fraser Institute senior fellow, economics professor at Nipissing University and author of Causes of Poverty.

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The Causes of Poverty

The study finds that just 0.9 per cent of Canadians who finished high school, got a full-time job and waited to have children until they were in committed relationships lived in long-term poverty—defined as having income below the estimated cost of life’s basic necessities, such as healthy food, rent, hygiene supplies, clothing, etc. Conversely, the poverty rate jumps significantly for Canadians without full-time employment (14 per cent) and for all single-parent households (11.7 per cent for female-headed single-parent families, 3 per cent for male-headed single-parent families). “The evidence is clear—there are certain societal norms that, if followed, are key to avoiding long-term poverty,” Sarlo said. “Before government enacts policies to combat poverty, policymakers should first understand what factors lead to poverty.” This is the first study in a new series exploring the underlying causes of long-term poverty.

The poverty rate for Canadians by household type (2015)

Media Contact: Chris Sarlo, Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact: Bryn Weese, Senior Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org

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