1 in 5 single adults in Canada live in poverty, many of whom are food insecure: report

Amid ongoing concerns about food insecurity, a newly published national report by Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) unveils an alarming poverty rate among working-age single adults in Canada, standing at three times higher than the national average.

According to the report, published on Thursday and titled “Sounding the Alarm,” more than one in five single adults (22 per cent) live below the poverty line, highlighting that single adults encounter the highest poverty rates in the country.

Many working-age single adults rely on low-wage, part-time, temporary employment opportunities that lack benefits and stability. The social support programs in place are outdated and inadequate for the current labor market, contributing to the challenges these individuals face, the report cited.

According to the report, nearly one million working-age single adults are stuck in a cycle of “deep” poverty with an average annual income of $11,700, which is less than half of the $25,252 low-income threshold for a single-adult household.

These working-age single adults make up to 38 per cent of all food-insecure households in the country with 61 per cent of them severely disabled living alone below the poverty line, the report said.

The report highlights that nearly half of single adults (47 per cent) live in unaffordable housing compared to 17 per cent in other household types and 81 per cent of shelter users are single adults with low income.

 “The evidence is overwhelmingly clear – through woefully inadequate income support programs and a labour market that creates precarity because of low wages and few benefits, we are trapping people in poverty in this country,” Community Food Centres Canada CEO Nick Saul said in a news release published on Thursday.

In the survey, some of the participants stated that they encountered difficulties such as struggling to afford nutritious food or adequate housing, and some participants felt trapped in the social assistance system because transitioning to part-time or contract work would result in losing crucial health benefits.

In order to fill the gap in support for working-age single adults, CFCC recommends that the existing Canada Workers Benefit be expanded and enhanced into a refundable tax credit called the Canada Working-Age Supplement and the working-age single adults living in poverty would receive the supplement whether they are attached to the labour market or not.

“Sounding the Alarm illustrates that our governments and employers are leaving working-age single adults behind,” added Saul. “We urgently need a national solution that responds to the realities that people are voicing in this report. If Canada is serious about making life equitable for everyone, then we need to find the political will to create income policies that take people out of poverty – not for a week, or a month, but for good.”

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.