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Poverty in Canada
Case Studies in Canada
Karen's Story: Case Study #1
Karen is a 24 year old house cleaner from Edmonton, Alberta. Karen was only 20 years old when she gave birth to her first child, Millie. Karen and her boyfriend had no interest in marriage though he was a decent enough man to still try and support his daughter, but even with both their incomes they barely made ends meet. Shortly after Millie was born Karen tried to find a decent full time job but she could not find a job that offered enough hours and money, so she ended up working minimum wage jobs in retail. Karen also struggled to find housing. She could not find a place to live that was affordable enough for her. Because of this she ended up living at one of her closest friends small apartment, sleeping on the couch with her daughter in the crib. Though once Millie outgrew the crib, Karen began sleeping on the floor, and she gave Millie the couch. 6 months ago Karen's friend told her that she was moving back in with her parents, meaning that Karen would have no place to live. Karen had been on an Edmonton housing waiting list for the past 4 years though she still needed to wait another 3 years until she would be into a house. Karen works extremely hard, but she only gets 25 hours a week at $11.25 an hour, making it very hard for her to make ends meet.
Marianne's Story: Case Study #2
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A few years ago Marianne was diagnosed with a disease named rheumatoid arthritis. As time went on with her illness Marianne began to struggle to do daily functions. Despite her medications her symptoms continued to get worse. At the time Marianne was a self-employed bookkeeper but as her symptoms got worse she found it hard to continue her job so she had to refer her clients to different bookkeepers. With a smaller income coming in she began relying on credit cards to make payments but she could not pay the minimum balance on the credit card. After missing numerous payments Mariannes only hope was to declare bankruptcy. After declaring bankruptcy she decided to apply for the ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program). Through employment insurance and the ODSP Marianne only had an income of $1164.00 which was still very hard to live off of.
Wayne's Story: Case Study #3
Wayne young child from Hamilton, Ontario area and he was the best friend to many. He made an easy laugh and could do many “cool things” that kids wanted to do such as play a guitar, fillet a fish with a jack knife, and imitate many sounds. To many, Wayne was the coolest guy in the world, with many cool skills. Though in reality, Wayne came from a very poor family from a very poor area of Hamilton. Wayne did not have much more than his one pair of jeans. Waynes friends also remember that he was always very hungry because he did not get enough to eat, so he would often ask his friends for their leftovers. Wayne lived in a home with no running water, no toilet, and sometimes no heat. Wayne came from the poor of the poor and he did not stand alone. He is one of 22,000 Hamilton children who live in poverty conditions.
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