For immediate release-
WORK ISN’T WORKING for Ontario Families - New Report
Campaign 2000, Toronto & York Region Labour Council & CLC Ontario Region - Toronto, Ontario, May 12,08
Poverty Reduction requires a Jobs Strategy, says Campaign 2000
Toronto – In the face of mounting evidence on the role of the labour market in family poverty, today Campaign 2000, the coalition working to end child and family poverty, joined with the Toronto & York Region Labour Council and the Canadian Labour Congress (Ontario Region) to call for the inclusion of a good jobs strategy in the provincial Poverty Reduction Strategy. Their joint report, Work Isn’t Working for Ontario Families: The Role of Good Jobs in Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy* establishes that many Ontario parents cannot achieve financial security for their families not because they can’t find work, but because they can’t find a good job.
“Forty-one per cent of children in low-income families in this province have at least one parent working full-time, all year,” said Ann Decter, National Coordinator of Campaign 2000, “and they are still living in poverty. Parents are working hard to meet their responsibilities but their jobs don’t pay enough to lift a family out of poverty. The labour market is churning out jobs and at the same time failing Ontario parents.”
In March 2008, Ontario lost 25,000 full-time jobs but gained 23,000 part-time ones. Employment rates are high and parents are working more and longer hours, but the increase in non-standard or precarious work – that is part-time and contract jobs with low pay, little or no benefit coverage or security – leaves many Ontario children growing up in poverty. Data just released by Statistics Canada shows there was no improvement in Ontario’s child poverty rate between 2005 and 2006.
“Low-income communities need stable, secure jobs where they earn enough to support their families” said John Cartwright, President of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council. “We heard that message clearly in community consultations last year, and we are calling on the provincial government to listen up. Addressing the need for jobs that pay a living wage is crucial for the success of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.”
On average, an Ontario parent who loses a full-time manufacturing job and succeeds in finding new work will experience a 25% drop in income. For a family, that drop can mean a direct slide from making ends meet into poverty. Manufacturing job losses have been felt around the province. Data in the report shows that replacing a lost job in automotive manufacturing with one in retail as auto declines and retail expands would cause income to drop by two-thirds.
Work Isn’t Working for Ontario Families suggests that improving labour market regulation, increasing unionization, maximizing the public benefit of public dollars and stimulating manufacturing for the developing global green economy are strategies to re-build secure livelihoods for Ontario parents and their children. Ontario’s expanding service sector has the second lowest sector unionization rate in Canada, and includes much temp agency and sub-contracted work that operates outside the reach of existing labour standards legislation.
Contacts:
John Cartwright, President, Toronto & York Region Labour Council: 416- 999-5663
Ann Decter, National Coordinator, Campaign 2000: 416-595-9230 ext 228 or 416-706-4686
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