Do we roll in gold as soon as we own a house, a chalet, a car? Can a parent be called deprived if he buys books and attends his children’s competitions? Poverty, like wealth, are eminently subjective and relative concepts.
We must still give ourselves guidelines to know who we are talking about, exactly, when it comes to poor and wealthy people.
Every year, the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS) measures the amount needed to live decently, what it calls viable income. The credibility of such an exercise obviously rests on its methodology, which has also been revised. Contrary to what one might believe, this is the most interesting part, because it forces us to think about what constitutes a normal expense for a Quebecer in 2024.
Of course, some will say that the amounts are too low, that they provide no room for maneuver in the event of a problem. Others will judge, on the contrary, that certain budget items could be further tightened, that there is always a way to reduce everything. The way we look says a lot about our vision of the world, our preconceptions, our experiences.
The figures revealed this Monday by IRIS concern seven localities in Quebec and three types of households. To put things into perspective, you can compare them with your own disposable income. Information is obtained in 20 seconds with the online tool1 of the Ministry of Finance.
Let’s start with the most common type of household in Quebec, that made up of… one person. There are 1.3 million, which is equivalent to 35% of all households, a proportion that is constantly growing.
A solo life out of poverty in Montreal now requires a disposable income of $38,000, or 19.3% more than last year. The sharp rise in the price of housing and food is to blame. This corresponds to a gross salary of $48,000 ($26 per hour) taking into account tax credits for solidarity and GST.
The cost of living is lowest in Trois-Rivières. With $31,000, you can meet your basic needs and have a minimum of social and cultural life. This income is equivalent to a gross salary of $37,000 ($20 per hour).
Sept-Îles is at the other end of the spectrum with a viable income of nearly $44,000 ($33 per hour, gross). This higher amount is mainly explained by the need to have a vehicle. The public transport offer is not “functional”, according to IRIS, which is credible.
The TaxiBus service is only available during the week, by reservation. It cannot meet the needs of all workers. A sum has also been allocated for long trips outside the region, occasionally necessary to consult a specialist doctor or participate in a cultural or sporting event. This reality tends to escape us when we live in a large center.
In other cities, the budget for a “simple and decent” life takes into account the cost of public transportation, which amounts to around $1,100 per year. An amount has been added for a monthly taxi trip, which is very reasonable.
For a family of four, including two preschool-aged children, the average viable income in the province is close to $79,000.
If both members of the couple earn $45,000 each, we can say that they have their heads above water. However, a lot of trade-offs will be necessary, particularly at the grocery store. If there is one budget item that can easily go from single to double, it is food. Determining what is necessary, reasonable and superfluous is not easy.
In its previous editions, the IRIS used as a reference a grocery basket which only meets nutritional needs, that of Alima. Its cost assumes that all meals are cooked at home and no non-nutritious foods such as popcorn are consumed. This basket no longer corresponds to the idea of “getting out of poverty,” mentions researcher Eve-Lyne Couturier. It also lacks variety even though children need it for their development.
She therefore turned to a new database, in addition to carrying out price surveys in each city. The cost of the basket thus jumped by $2,000 for families in Montreal, and $800 for single people.
The parent who lives with their preschool-age child in a two-bedroom apartment will need, on average, $50,000 in their pockets… or a salary of $50,000. Yes, taxes are fully returned in the form of family allowances and credits.
The question of transportation is particularly interesting for this type of household.
IRIS used Google Maps to determine, using a hundred simulations, whether it was possible for a parent in Saguenay to leave the office at 5 p.m., go to daycare and return home by 6 p.m. …all this by public transport.
The answer is no 65% of the time. I expected worse. Even if you live less than 10 kilometers from the offices of The Press, I have almost never managed, using the metro, the bus, my legs and a stroller, to complete this type of route in less than an hour. Who wants to pick up their 2 year old at 5:56 p.m.? In short, in Saguenay, single parents need a car.
Obviously, in the midst of the housing crisis, the question of rents was crucial. By scrutinizing Kijiji, IRIS found that housing prices on the market have nothing to do with the average prices established by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This includes both housing occupied by the same tenant for 10 years and those currently on the market.
CMHC data “largely underestimate what families with young children pay”, who, “in the majority of cases”, have not lived at the same address for ages, notes Eve-Lyne Couturier. A move, she calculated, can increase the cost of housing by up to 25%.
A lump sum covers other necessities such as glasses, the dentist, telephone calls. This amount also allows for some social activities, books, modest vacations and children’s soccer tournaments.
In short, the exercise shows that between 6 and 19.3% more money is needed than last year to live decently. It’s not for nothing that financial anxiety is on the rise, as is the use of food banks.
1. Consult the Quebec tool to discover your disposable income
Consult the IRIS report
reference: www.lapresse.ca