What is the impact of poverty?
Poverty takes an individual and social toll – people may become withdrawn, depressed, anxious, hopeless. They may feel marginalized and isolated, and robbed of the opportunity to contribute as meaningfully to society as they would like to. Poverty has been recognized as a social determinant of health, and there is some evidence that societies with significant inequalities experience more health problems. All of this can put strain on families and on communities. Poverty can be time-consuming, preventing parents from spending quality time with their children, or preventing people from participating in their communities as fully as possible. Poverty also has an economic cost. These costs include the impact on our health care system, loss of productivity and increased policing and judicial costs as social breakdown results in crime. Recent studies have demonstrated that when poverty, affordable housing, and income security are not dealt with, Canadian governments must spend significantly
