L.I.C.O. means L.ow I.ncome C.ut O.ff

LICO is a statistic that Canadian Government officials realize is very incompatible with 'Living Wage' realities, but LICO it is still the number that Social Services (and other agencies designed to assist low-income individuals) uses to set 'income benefits' by. In turn, government benefits don't even help to bring individuals up to the (too low) LICO standard. Even if individuals were trying to exist on the amount of dollars that is the LICO cut-off, they will still be floundering - due to the fact that individuals require more money than what LICO stats say people can have in order to be considered 'regular income' instead of lower income.

Truly, someone a thousand dollars above the LICO amount is still and truly a POOR individual, and the difference in financial difficulties is actually MORE than for people considered to be in the low-income category - only now, the 'slightly-above-LICO' individual suddenly has LESS SERVICES available to him or her. All their payments will be bumped up, health care costs, etc., and they will actually be banned from receiving certain services without paying a fee.

LIVING WAGE: The wages that individuals require in order to live reasonably and at a healthy minimum in a particular society.

(I don't feel right about quoting the actual stats - but the next 'module' will explain why)

Curiously, even with the Canadian LICO limit at around $20 000 (slightly above this figure) for an individual, Canadian Social Services and other government low-income benefits programs leave low-income people way far below either Living Wage (OBVIOUSLY a much higher $ Stat than LICO) or LICO.

Low-income recipients of Social Services benefits recieve less than people who receive government benefits for long-term or permanent disability (A.I.S.H. in Alberta). AISH recipients live on under $15 000 per year. Yet people with disabilities often require MORE services than the average healthy person. People with disabilities often require more transportation help in order to access doctors, therapists and other physical supports. Many require CONSISTENT, PERSISTENT contact with mental health professionals in order to live within reason even if they cannot work full-time.

People not requiring disability assistance funds live on much less than those who receive AISH or other Canadian disability benefits.

I finally brought a discussion of poverty to my hubpages because this is basically what I do in life - study poverty.

I'm working with OLD STATS...and have been working with OLD STATISTICS for 3 or 4 years. I do this in my spare time - not just to put up a hub article.

In my opinion, poverty is just something that is not on a Canadian government priority list. Delving through article after article and website after government and agency website for the past few years has brought me into contact with a number of American statistics, as well. Though I mention "Canadian" issues, it would be better to say that these issues are moreso - "North American" issues because what is happening in Canada is closely mirrored by the United States. Or the other way around, if I understand Canada right.

How can government agencies work out the problems of poverty in North America when, primarily, they are dealing with OLD STATISTICS?

A general search on 'poverty' and 'lico+poverty' brings up websites - even government data - but the articles, PDFs and such are reports from the 80's and 90's. Some of the luckier finds I have uncovered have been from as early as 2004. How does anyone solve problems based on such old information? some of the 'leading reports' that still come up in searches are from even before GOOGLE became the phenomenon and success that it is today! From before the 'Desert Storm' event and crisis that affected the American nation and other nations, from before many current events which affect us NOW!

Doesn't the government put 'assessment of current events on issues of income and poverty' as a high priority or what? I do understand that there are specific 'groups' and agencies to tend to these issues - but where the heck are they TODAY? Where are their reports - why does it take so long for them to publish reports to the public.

(My next step is to take a full day during my University study break week and forget about the sunshine while I dig into government archives at the museum and goverment buildings - oh hey - exciting, eh? Only a Canadian would do this, methinks...perchance I will be avoiding the snow, so it might not be such a bad way to pass the time).

Knowing a bit about how google searches work...in part, this means that nobody does searches for topics (not just the two mentioned about - I mean 'the variety' of searches with 'poverty,' 'low income,' 'marginalized individuals' etc - no less than 20 keywords in my search vocabulary) on poverty issues in a way that goes beyond google first-page depth.

What's up, people?

What if something terribly drastic happens in your life? What if you lose your job? Don't you want to be prepared for poverty? Don't you want to know what services the American and Canadian governments have in place in case you need them?

Let me try this approach instead.

Don't you want to know if the government services already in place to deal with poverty are SUCCESSFULLY assisting in the issues surrounding poverty?

Here's a hint * They're NOT successfully dealing with the issues - they are not even evaluating CURRENT DATA successfully.

* Tax money is not used to its greatest UTILITY in these areas, so if you want to keep getting IRATE over the bums and homeless people on your city streets, check out the government stats and check out the shoddy work that is being done regarding homelessness and poverty in North America.

The public is expecting homeless and impoverished people to get back on their feet by going to the government services that the public pays taxes into.

The impoverished go to the place that the public sees as the 'toolbox for getting back on track' but when the impoverished get to the toolbox, the toolbox has a bunch of nails and tacks in it, rather than tools.

So, impoverished people fill up their pockets with nails and tacks and head off to try and find work. Nobody wants to hire someone to hammer a nail with a nail!

Think about it.

Search about it. (The Public Shows Google How To Work. WE create popular topics by the way we search - even if the government does NOT give us good information - let's have the information WE NEED come to the top)

You WILL come across someone, sometime, who is impoverished in your lifetime, even if you manage to hold steady in the income area. Your neice, nephew, brother, friend or an acquaintance will require your words of wisdom someday when they are in a financial or possibly a housing crunch, teetering on the brink of 'poverty.' It really can happen to anyone - ask one of the 2degree Doctors of Engineering that are currently wandering the street of your city...look for 'em - they're RIGHT THERE!

Please don't let the words of wisdom come out of your mouth like this: "I'll drive you down to the Social Services office, and they'll help you get back on your feet."

In short...Social Services/Welfare will give your friend, nephew, acquaintance, sister, brother, mother...a cheque - if they qualify...that will in no way meet their needs and they will be in need of better help beyond agencies and government services.

The world doesn't work the way we hope it SHOULD...most of us are quite aware of this - so why are we surprised that our government assistance programs DON'T actually WORK?

Some Low Income Street Level Resources in Calgary AB Canada

Let's stop acting surprised!