Food insecurity is still an issue and the numbers are “pretty scary” when it comes to those on social assistance being able to afford healthy food and rent.
Those on social assistance, whether it be a single parent or a family of four, would be short of money to cover expenses and would need extra money to be able to afford rent and food, according to a report from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH).
Things have stabilized and there was a decrease of two percent from 2023 to 2024 for the cost of the Nutritious Food Basket, discussed at a board of health meeting on Wednesday. The Nutritious Food Basket is a tool used to monitor the cost and affordability of healthy eating.
In the report, for income scenarios, it considers a family of four to be made up of a male and female aged 31 to 50, a girl aged eight and a boy aged 14.
Last year the cost of the Nutritious Food Basket was $1,399.98 monthly or $323.32 a week for a family of four and this year it is $1,365.98 or $315.47 a week.
It was stressed this is a point-in-time look at the cost and this year the cost is still up 12 per cent from 2022, which was $1,224.95.
With the recent rising cost of living and high cost of inflation “we’re in the worst scenario we’ve seen to date,” said Lisa Needham, nutritionist at WDGPH, who wrote the report. This is locally, provincially and nationally. In 2019, 12.3 per cent of people were living in food insecure households locally and in 2023 it was 23.4 per cent.
Since shelter is a fixed expense housing costs should be considered when assessing food affordability. Housing is often prioritized ahead of other expenses and is considered affordable when it's at or below 30 per cent of a household’s income.
In 12 out of 13 scenarios in the report, housing costs are over 30 per cent. This leaves little money leftover for things like food after rent is paid for.
For those on social assistance the numbers are “pretty scary,” said Needham.
A family of four on Ontario Works (OW) would have negative $145 left after monthly expenses since 58 per cent of the family’s income goes to rent and 47 per cent goes to purchasing food as part of the nutritious food basket.
For single person households in the example scenarios “we see really scary findings. We see that they would require another $500 to $750 a month to afford those two basic expenses let alone anything else,” said Needham.
She stressed households most at risk of being food insecure are ones dependent on social assistance and single person households.
For a single person on OW, 131 per cent of their income goes to rent, and 53 per cent for food. So they wouldn’t have enough money to cover these expenses leaving them with negative $747 at the end of the month.
Money for monthly expenses is still short for those in the Ontario Disability Support Program. A single person would see 103 per cent of their income go to rent and 32 per cent to food. This leaves them short by $511 at the end of the month. A single, pregnant person is only marginally better off with 100 per cent of their income going to rent and 33 per cent for food. This leaves them short of $502.
After Needham’s presentation it was asked if food support program use like food banks was in the research. Although there have been many conversations in the community about this “it's extremely hard for emergency food providers to collect data,” said Needham.
She referenced Feed Ontario, a provincial collective of hunger-relief organizations. It collects data about food bank use from organizations that are registered with it.
There are over 50 food programs across the region and asking the organizations to collect data while they try to get food out the door has been challenging but WDGPH would love to establish regional data collection, said Needham.
People make choices when they don’t have enough money for everything, said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer. Some families may not pay for electric bills or children’s lunches so using food banks is a way of trying to manage a lack of financial resources to buy food, she said. She wants people to understand as prices go up for things it impacts people’s ability to feed themselves.
The income scenario that comes out on top is for a family of four with median income of a two income household where 18 per cent of it goes to rent and 14 per cent goes to food. At the end of the month the household has $6,624 for all other expenses.
It is the only scenario where a household can afford food in the Nutritious Food Basket. In this situation the family of four “... probably spends a lot more on housing and on food because they have the luxury to do that,” said Needham.
Those who have at least one full time minimum wage worker in their household are better off because in these scenarios since there is money leftover at the end of the month after rent and food is covered. This money could go towards all other expenses a household may have.
Leading the way in money left over monthly is a single parent household with a full time minimum wage worker with two children, with $2,213 at the end of the month after 35 per cent of income goes to rent and 17 per cent for food. A family of four would have $1,454 at the end of the month with 38 per cent of income going toward rent and 30 per cent for food.
At the bottom for money at the end of the month is $184 for a family of four refugee claimants with a full time minimum wage worker, where 52 per cent of income comes to rent and 42 per cent for food.
