More Toronto Families Living in Poverty

Close to 30 percent of Toronto's families, about 93-thousand households, are living in poverty according to a new report released Monday by the United Way of Greater Toronto.

What makes the report so startling is that this is a drastic increase. In 1990, the United Way says 16 percent of families in the city were poor.

The United Way says a two-parent family with two children living on less than $27,500 (after taxes) is considered to be living in poverty.

The report also notes an increased number of payday loan locations which offer short-term loans at high interest rates which some people can ill-afford but are forced to turn to in desperation. In some cases, the United Way says the equivalent of a more than 400 percent annual interest rate is being charged on loans.

Frances Lankin, the President of the United Way of Greater Toronto, says the agency is making a number of recommendations, including asking the province to regulate the pay-day loan sector.

It's also asking the province to pay close attention to Toronto's unique challenges when it puts together it's upcoming poverty-reduction strategy. As well, Lankin says more needs to be done when it comes to making employment insurance more accessible to people. She says in 2004, just 27 percent of Toronto's unemployed workers were able to get E.I.

(With reporting from CFRB's Ryan Bird)

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