People who lost their jobs at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic found a lifeline in the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). However, those who didn\u2019t qualify for CERB \u2013 mostly people living in deep poverty \u2013 found themselves with little to no additional support in a time of crisis. Eighteen months into the pandemic, ensuring that people living in poverty can live with dignity is still not a government priority. As the federal election looms, it\u2019s important to ask whether parties are making enough commitments to reduce the depth of poverty in Canada.<\/p>\n
While targeted income support programs have contributed to a sizeable reduction in child and old-age poverty, poverty rates among working-age singles \u2013 both unattached singles and single parents \u2013 remain significantly higher than the national average. Figure 1 shows 32.9 per cent of working-age unattached singles were living in poverty in 2019, which is more than triple the national average for all Canadians and almost seven times the proportion of seniors. In fact, working-age unattached singles make up more than one-third<\/a> of all people living in poverty in Canada \u2013 1.3 million people. Canadians with disabilities are also underserved and continue to experience high poverty rates \u2013 about 35 per cent higher than the national rate in 2019<\/p>\n