ccpans pres cost of pov
DESCRIPTION
Presentation made at the Mini-conference on Poverty hosted by the Community Society to End Poverty-NS June 20, 2013TRANSCRIPT
Christine Saulnier, PhDNova Scotia Director, CCPA
June 20, 2013
SHARING IDEAS/TAKING ACTION: TOWARDS A POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY FOR NOVA SCOTIA: A MINI-
CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP by the COMMUNITY SOCIETY TO
END POVERTY IN NOVA SCOTIA
The Costs of Poverty:the Case for Social Investment
it makes no more sense to ask "what are the costs and benefits of preventing poverty?" than to
ask "what are the costs and benefits of prohibiting torture?”
Lars Osberg, Economist, Dalhousie University The Costs and Benefits of Anti-Poverty Policy (1990)
The Moral Imperative
Moral Imperative Barriers
Too complex
Too expensive
No benefit to broader society
Right Thing
Total cost of poverty:
$2.4 billion/yr
Equivalent to 7% of
Nova Scotia’s
GDP
=$2,600 per person
Direct cost to government: $600 million dollars per
year
= 6.7% of the 2010/11 NS government
budget
Cost of Poverty in Nova Scotia
Moral, and Economic
Imperatives to reduce and
eliminate poverty
Barriers
Too complex
No benefit to broader society
Too expensive
Right Thing
Shared economic burden
High quantifiable costs to
government
Calculating the Economic Costs
• considering costs that could potentially be eliminated, and
• benefits that could
potentially be realized
• if the 20% of Nova Scotians with the lowest income were to have the same income as the second lowest 20%
Components of the Costs of Poverty
48%
12%
40%Health CareCrimeProductivity Loss
From the Spirit Levelhttp://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/spirit-level-why-equality-better-everyone
Moral, Economic and Social
Imperative to reduce and
eliminate poverty
Barriers
Right Thing
Shared economic
burden
High quantifiable
costs to government
Healthier society for
everyone
Too complex
Too expensive
No benefit to broader
society
Public Investment Yields Strongest Impact
Toby Sanger, CUPE; Sources: Informetrica Ltd, Centre for Spatial Economics, Finance Canada Budget 2009 (p. 240)
We all have a share interested In transforming our society,
which includes eliminating poverty
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