This discussion paper is an attempt by the National Council of Welfare to find out whether there is any inclination among Canadians to explore new ways of measuring poverty - more specifically whether we should consider moving from the low income cut-offs of Statistics Canada to poverty lines based on the cost of a market basket of goods and services.

     The Council participated in consultations begun by Statistics Canada in 1989 in a search for alternatives to the low income cut-offs or LICOs. At the end of the exercise, Statistics Canada decided to continue using LICOs as its preferred way of defining the "low income" population. The Council and most other groups continued using LICOs as their preferred measure of "poverty."

     The current round of debate about poverty lines was touched off by the federal, provincial and territorial governments in a search for alternative ways to assess the impact of the new Canada Child Tax Benefit on families with children. It remains to be seen whether the search will turn out to be any more successful than previous efforts.

     We would like to see the debate on poverty lines pursued, resolved if possible within a reasonably short period of time, and then put aside. The outcome could be continued use of the low income cut-offs by most researchers. It could be a switch to a new measure of poverty based on the cost of a market basket of goods and services. It could even be having two sets of measures that complement each other. The Acceptable Living Level group in Winnipeg, for example, found that their guidelines were close to the low income cut-offs. That led them to the view that the market basket and statistical approaches validate each other and make both approaches more credible.

     Whatever happens with the debate on poverty lines, the prime concern of the National Council of Welfare is finding the most effective ways of fighting poverty in Canada and promoting our proposals among ordinary people and governments at all levels. Counting poor people is always going to be unsatisfying work. It only makes sense if we take the next logical step and do our best to eradicate poverty in all its forms.

Last Update:  2001 02 14