Poverty line out of reach as Manitoba welfare income declines: report

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Welfare incomes dropped in Manitoba last year, in spite of additional payments from federal and provincial governments, says a national report by an anti-poverty think tank.

The Canada-wide survey by the Toronto-based non-profit organization Maytree looked at four types of households in every province in 2022, and measured their total welfare income in constant dollars, taking into account the rate of inflation.

It found people receiving social assistance were living on welfare incomes below Canada’s official poverty line in 2022, with the majority below the deep income poverty threshold (which is 75 per cent of the official poverty line).

The Market Basket Measure for each of the provinces represents Canada’s official poverty line, and identifies households whose disposable income is less than the cost of a “basket” of goods and services that represents a basic standard of living.

In Manitoba, the poverty line is $25,471 for unattached singles, with a deep income poverty line of $19,103.

A single person considered employable in Manitoba received a total welfare income of $10,252 in 2022, the Maytree data show.

“They need about another $9,000 to get above deep income poverty,” Jennefer Laidley, one of the report’s authors, said in an interview Tuesday.

The poverty line is even further from their grasp, she added. “We’re talking another $15,000 for a single person.”

While Manitoba beefed-up welfare incomes starting in November, by $50 a month for unattached singles and boosted rent assist benefits, it wasn’t enough to mitigate the effects of inflation, Laidley said.

“We have to consider if giving people a little bit more money in order to buy food for themselves and pay their rent — if it should be a policy priority for governments to get people to a place where they can live with some degree of dignity.”

Welfare incomes in the report were calculated for four types of households: a single person who is considered employable; a single person with a disability; a single parent with one child; and a couple with two children.

In Manitoba, households that qualify for basic social assistance payments also qualify for recurring additional social assistance payments from the province, federal child benefits for households with children, and federal tax credits or benefits. They amount to the household’s total welfare income.

Last year, they received beefed-up federal and provincial benefits intended to lessen the pinch of rising inflation, which was 7.8 per cent in Manitoba (higher than the Canadian average of 6.8 per cent).

Total annual welfare incomes in Manitoba in 2022 ranged from $10,252 for the unattached single considered employable to $34,103 for a couple with two children.

For unattached Manitoba singles considered employable, their total welfare income of $10,252 in 2022 represents a nine per cent decrease, compared to 2021 in constant dollars, the report says.

The unattached single with a disability received $14,125 — a nine per cent decrease in constant dollars compared to 2021. The single parent with one child received $25,182 — a decrease of 12 per cent compared to 2021 in constant dollars.

Single-parent households were hit with a larger decrease in 2022, after receiving the federal COVID-19 pandemic-related young child supplement of $1,200 in 2021. The benefit was not available the following year.

The total welfare income of $34,103 for a couple with two children in 2022 represents a decline of eight per cent in constant dollars. compared to 2021, the report says.

“More action on the housing front and more action on the income front is really important for governments to consider,” said Laidley.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca