Quality of life back to pre-recession level, but not all prosper

The quality of life in Ontario has bounced back to the level of pre-recession 1990, but the recovery has come at the expense of the poor and the elderly - strikingly so in Toronto. The analysis comes from the Ontario Social Development Council, which twice yearly takes a comprehensive measure of 12 factors to determine the economic, social and environmental health of the province. "This apparent good news about the improvement of the quality of our life also has an undercurrent to it that's somewhat disturbing. We have shown a social deficit…that underlies the general sense of quality of life," said Malcolm Shookner, the council's executive director. Toronto, badly hit by the recession of the early 1990s, has not rebounded and was among the bottom of the communities studied. A doubling of the numbers of people on social assistance over the decade and lengthy waiting lists for social housing dragged the city's rating down. "Because Toronto is such a magnet for so many people, we have more prosperity, and we have more poverty. The disparities in our society are most evident in Toronto, and that's why it drags down their overall rating of quality-of-life index," Mr. Shookner said.

Lynette McLeod knows first hand about poverty and the waiting list for subsidized housing. "I'm 40,000[th] on the list, with no possibility of getting housing for five or 10 years," she said with a laugh at the impossibility of the situation. "Five or 10 years isn't when I need it. I need it now." Ms. McLeod was living in a municipal shelter when her son was born last year, and she spent two months trying to find a landlord willing to accept a single mother with a baby on social assistance. The apartment devours 70 percent of her $1,000 monthly welfare cheque. The remainder goes to pay for her phone, a transit pass and food for the baby. She relies on food banks for her own needs and said life is "an ongoing struggle." But having just marked one year free of drugs the same week as she celebrated her son's first birthday, she's determined to improve her life. She's waiting to hear if a community college will accept her into a social-services worker program. "I want to help others who are in my predicament," she said.

There are some bright spots in the report. Provincially, some indicators showed improvement during the decade:

• Fewer hours of poor air quality were reported, although figures are only available up to 1997.
• The blue-box program for recycling has captured a growing share of garbage.
• Fewer low-birth weight babies have been born.
• Fewer toxic spills have been reported to the Ministry of the Environment, although that is related to reduced industrial activity and reduced regulation.
• The number of people working and the number of people unemployed have almost reached 1990 levels.

Other indicators pointed to worrying social trends:

• Bankruptcies have fallen from peak levels in 1996, but are still considerably higher than at the beginning of the decade.
• More children are in the care of Children's Aid Societies than at the beginning of the decade.
• The waiting list for public housing has continued to grow steadily over the decade.
• The numbers of seniors waiting for long-term care has also grown steadily over the decade.

The numbers of people on social assistance has dropped by one-third, but researchers were not ready to hail this as good news. Studies have found that about half of those who left welfare traded it for low-paying jobs with no benefits. Others have been forced off welfare because of stricter eligibility rules, Mr. Shookner said. Hunger, evictions and lack of emergency hostel beds were acute problems social-service agencies reported in a survey released by the United Way of Greater Toronto this week. Most of the 28 agencies surveyed said homelessness had increased since the Toronto Mayor's Homelessness Action Task Force report was released in January.