How Ottawa-Carleton residents on social assistance spend their money

This spending profile was assembled from local statistical data and testimony presented at the People's Hearings on Poverty, Ottawa-Carleton, March 1998.

* Housing 69%

* Utilities 11% (excludes phone - not affordable)

* Food 9% (supplemented by Food-Bank provisions)

* Child care 0% (n/a - couldn't afford subsidized daycare, even if spot were available)

* Clothing .5% (mended seconds meet most needs; some money applied to kids' shoes and other essentials)

* Transportation 3% (bus money)

* Debt Payments 7.45%

* Misc. Expenses .05% (kids' breakfast program, prescription-filling fees; no money available for kids' school field trips and pizza days, washer/dryer repairs or other 'extras')

* Entertainment 0%

* Kids' Recreational Activities 0% (walks to the park are free; the rest is unaffordable)

* Retirement Savings 0%

* Education/Skill Development 0%

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