Concept: Poverty

Introduction

"Poverty in Canada refers to the state or condition in which a person or household lacks essential resources — financial or otherwise — to maintain a modest standard of living in their community." (Source: Wikipedia - Poverty in Canada - accessed November 20, 2023).

Over time, different types of poverty measures have been used in MCHP research. This concept identifies the different data sources and indicators that have been used to investigate poverty in our research.

Data Sources / Indicators

The following data sources / indicators have been used to investigate and measure poverty in MCHP research:


• Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) data,
  
• Income Quintiles - Child Health Income Quintiles
  
• Neighborhood Poverty

Poverty Definitions in MCHP Research

The following list of MCHP research describes how poverty was defined in each project.


• In the article, Equal opportunity for all? High school completion rates for high risk youths by Brownell et al., 2007 they investigated children experiencing poverty, and defined poverty as "the child's family had received income assistance for two months or more at some point over the period when they were 10 to 17 years of age."
  
  
• In the article Poverty and Early Childhood Outcomes by Roos et al., 2019, they defined household poverty as a mother receiving Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) - analogous to welfare - in the month of a child's birth, and/or neighborhood poverty as those living in a neighborhood with median income in the lowest income quintile.
  
  
• Several MCHP research projects used the term(s) receipt of income assistance or Living in a Family Receiving Income Assistance (IA) as a measure of poverty or economic instability. These projects include:
  
  
  • The PAX Program in Manitoba: A Population-Based Analysis of Children's Outcomes (2018) by Brownell M. et al.,
    
  • Our Children, Our Future: The Health and Well-being of First Nations Children in Manitoba (2020) by Chartier M et al.
    
  • Long-Term Outcomes Of Manitoba's Insight Mentoring Program: A Comparative Statistical Analysis (2015) by Ruth C et al.
  
  
• In the Deliverable Adult Obesity in Manitoba: Prevalence, Associations, and Outcomes (2011) by Fransoo et al. they investigated Food Insecurity as a measure of poverty.

For more detailed information about any of this research, please click on the Report or Abstract links provided in the References section below.