This is Toronto, the capital of Ontario. A city home to 2.6 million people of all social,
racial, and economic backgrounds.
A multicultural mosaic of people, each with their own unique lives, experiences and stories,
all united by the Canadian flag.
However, our city isn't as equal and fair as we would like to believe, as there is a
massive gap between the rich and poor of Toronto.
Some of us live a privileged life here in the city, with enormous mansions, privatized
education, and flashy race cars.
It is estimated that the top 1% earners in Toronto make up 17.5% of the money earned
by all Torontonians, with a median income of $326,800 per year.
These individuals often reside in neighbourhoods such as the Bridal Path and Rosedale, with
houses that cost up to $22 million, which is almost 300 times the median family income
in Toronto.
However, the top 1% aren't always in fancy homes in these traditionally "rich" neighbourhoods.
As the house prices in Toronto rise, sometimes you need to be in the top 10%, who earn on
average $134,900 a year, to even buy a house in the GTA.
Studies have shown that you need a six figure income or at least $124,153 in annual income to buy
a detached house, regardless of neighbourhood.
So now we realize that the top 10% earning households of Toronto, which make up
43.5% of total income in Toronto, lead fairly to very well-off lives, each with at least decent
housing and enough money left over for luxury items.
Their children also lead happy lives with the newest gadgets and money never being a worry.
However, what about the rest of Toronto?
What about the other 90% and the low earning families?
Now while the richest 10% live luxuriously in detached homes, the middle 67.4% are able
to make a living earning a median income of $72,830, the bottom 22.6% are living at or
below the poverty line.
This means that they earn less than $19,930, which is Ontario's poverty line, with a
median income of $14,930 per year.
Sadly, a lot of these families have parents who work both a minimum wage job of $11 per
hour, which is designed to support single adults, and not families with children.
Their children, along with all those others in poverty make up a quarter of children in
Toronto, the child poverty capital of the world.
This means that one in four children are living in overcrowded, unsafe, and unsanitary housing
conditions, and they are struggling to survive.
Of those children, more than a third, or 10% of all children face food insecurity, when
food in their family is so scarce that unsanitary food or no food is eaten, leading to increased
health problems and a higher risk for chronic diseases.
In general, these children and their families, which are mostly indigenous or immigrant children
are struggling to survive while the richest 10% flaunt in their costly shoes and phones.
Now that we know all of this, what can we do to help close the gap between the rich
and the poor in Toronto.
There are organizations and charities that are doing something to help solve this issue.
Although, they cannot decrease the income of the rich, they are helping to improve conditions
of the poor to close this evermore evident gap.
Examples of these organizations include Campaign 2000, which aims to improve child benefits
to $5,600 per child in low-income families, to improve housing for aboriginals below the
poverty line and various other programs to reduce child poverty since 1991.
Another charity would be the Toronto Association of Children's Aid Societies, which hopes to
strengthen child welfare.
And the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.
In addition, there are many food banks in Toronto that help to give food for those that
face food insecurity.
One example would be the Daily Food Bank in Toronto that runs almost 200 food programs
across the GTA.
Last year, they provided food to 716,000 visitors and prepared more than 3,000 nutritious meals.
These meals are sent out every week to shelters, hostels and neighbourhood meal programs.
To support them, you can donate or volunteer to help children and families in poverty.
Also, you can run your own initiative in your community and give food to the homeless and
those in need.
Through supporting these charities and helping out on an everyday basis, we hope that we
can make Toronto a better, more equal place for all, rich or poor.
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