The key to reducing poverty is work, not welfare dependency. But even the suggestion that many people on low-incomes could make themselves better off by changing their own behaviour is guaranteed to generate the cry of “blaming the victim”. Although there are many prepared to advocate for more money for government run social programmes, anyone who visits a Statistics Canada office can find out about what makes the difference between falling into poverty and escaping it: the best and most common route out is more family members working more hours. Hard work and a buoyant labour market do make the difference.
In this talk to participants at Toward A Hunger Free Canada, a national convention of the Canadian Association of Food Banks sponsored by the Metro Halifax Food Bank, AIMS president Brian Lee Crowley examines the obstacles to improving conditions for those on low-incomes. Social Policy and the New Economy gives a wealth of detail as to why work is still the best most effective antidote to poverty.
