An editorial from the Halifax Chronicle Herald, published Dec. 7:
Poverty hurts not just individuals and families. The scourge of such hardship has a negative impact on communities, regions and entire nations.
According to Canada Without Poverty, a charitable non-profit dedicated to ending poverty in this country, poverty costs Canada between $72 billion and $84 billion a year.
In Nova Scotia, the total cost of poverty is about $2.4 billion, equal to seven per cent of provincial GDP, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The reasons are diverse. They include poorer health that leads to heavier reliance on the health-care system, higher incarceration rates and significant government spending on social assistance.
So efforts to break families free of the low-income cycle are tremendously important, both for society and for the human beings who find themselves trapped below the poverty line. Ending or reducing childhood poverty is particularly important in that regard.
Today, as part of a joint effort led by Halifax regional council and United Way Halifax, The Chronicle Herald is helping to shed light on both the problem of poverty in the metro region and — more importantly — finding possible solutions.
Our stories touch on some of the many faces of poverty, including hunger and shelter, community centres of support like the Dartmouth North Library and escaping situations of domestic violence. Coverage on this vital issue will continue into 2018 and beyond.
As Halifax Mayor Mike Savage and United Way Halifax president and CEO Sara Napier identified in a recent opinion piece, the concerns are many: income, housing, food security, transit needs, access to health services, education and systemic barriers, among others.
Making a difference will take commitment and effort from across the community. But it’s something we must do.
The consequences of doing nothing would be nothing less than the continued destruction of invaluable human potential.
Halifax Chronicle Herald, Halifax Chronicle-Herald
