Abstract

Poverty: It's Not Just an Issue of Income

Jennifer Robson-Haddow

Poverty is not just a matter of income, it is also an issue of asset. Assets matter. Beyond annual income, owning your own home, having retirement savings, savings to start a small business or savings to put your children through school can mean the difference between financial security and economic exclusion. A new field, asset-building, offers an innovative approach to alleviating and preventing poverty.

Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) is a national non-profit organization specializing in the design, management and evaluation of social policy initiatives that enable disadvantaged Canadians to achieve self-sufficiency. For the past 10 years, SEDI has been recognized internationally as the leading organization in the asset-building field in Canada.

As the creator of learn$ave, the world's largest demonstration project of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), SEDI and its 10 community partners across Canada are offering low-income Canadians the opportunity to build savings and receive matching dollars to help them return to school or start a new small business. SEDI's asset-building agenda extends beyond the learn$ave project to include applications of the IDA model to increase access to one of the most life-changing and important assets of all -- affordable housing. The success of any asset-building initiative also demands attention to the critical issue of financial literacy, which is why SEDI is also working towards a multi-sectoral commitment to a national financial literacy initiative. Finally, we believe that asset-building is a complementary approach to traditional income policy and a critical and as-yet underdeveloped part of the social union of Canada. SEDI is initiating an ambitious multi-year asset-building policy research agenda. This agenda will conduct the first ever review of federal programs from an asset-building perspective and make recommendations on specific measures that governments in Canada could take to ensure that all Canadians have fair access to the opportunities to save and invest in their own futures and escape a cycle of poverty.

This presentation will provide an overview of asset-building thought and practice in Canada, highlight some of the best available knowledge from Canadian and international sources and outline areas for future work in this emerging field.

Bio

Jennifer Robson-Haddow is a program coordinator with Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI), a national non-profit organization specializing in the design, management and evaluation of social policy initiatives that enable disadvantaged Canadians to achieve self-sufficiency. Prior to joining SEDI, Jennifer worked in the federal government as a researcher in the Office of the Prime Minister and as an advisor to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. She lives and works in Ottawa.

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