Canada has the ninth largest economy in the world

‘Amid ongoing concerns about food insecurity, a newly published national report by Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) unveils an alarming poverty rate among working-age single adults in Canada, standing at three times higher than the national average.

According to the report titled “Sounding the Alarm,” more than one in five single adults (22 per cent) live below the poverty line, highlighting that single adults encounter the highest poverty rates in the country.

Many working-age single adults rely on low-wage, part-time, temporary employment opportunities that lack benefits and stability. The social support programs in place are outdated and inadequate for the current labour market, contributing to the challenges these individuals face, the report cited.

According to the report, nearly one million working-age single adults are stuck in a cycle of “deep” poverty with an average annual income of $11,700, which is less than half of the $25,252 low-income threshold for a single-adult household.

These working-age single adults make up to 38 per cent of all food-insecure (sic) households in the country with 61 per cent of them severely disabled living alone below the poverty line, the report said.

The report highlights that nearly half of single adults (47 per cent) live in unaffordable housing (rented accommodation?) compared to 17 per cent in other household types and 81 per cent of shelter users are single adults with low income.

In the survey, some of the participants stated that they encountered difficulties such as struggling to afford nutritious food or adequate housing, and some participants felt trapped in the social assistance system because transitioning to part-time or contract work would result in losing crucial health benefits.

In order to fill the gap in support for working-age single adults, CFCC recommends that the existing Canada Workers Benefit be expanded and enhanced into a refundable tax credit called the Canada Working-Age Supplement and the working-age single adults living in poverty would receive the supplement whether they are attached to the labour market or not.

“Sounding the Alarm illustrates that our governments and employers are leaving working-age single adults behind,” added Saul. “We urgently need a national solution that responds to the realities that people are voicing in this report. If Canada is serious about making life equitable for everyone, then we need to find the political will to create income policies that take people out of poverty – not for a week, or a month, but for good.’

1 in 5 single adults in Canada live in poverty: report | CTV News

And there it is again, a sticking plaster ‘solution’.

Perhaps CTV should have a word with the Socialist Party of Canada (WSM) to find out the real solution to these capitalism problems.

 ‘..Arouse, ye slaves! Declare war, not on the capitalist, but on the capitalist system, and if it should be your fate or your fortune to suffer in years to come, that suffering will not be the result of your own deliberate act. I am for the freedom of the working class. Though my heart yearns for the freedom of men, I am powerless. Only the working class itself can achieve its emancipation. The workingman who is not yet awakened, who has not yet realized all his class interests, is a blind tool, the willing instrument of his own degradation, and thousands of them on the 4th of July, when reference is made to the capitalist flag that symbolizes the triumph of capitalism only, thousands of these wage slaves will applaud their own degradation. What is wanted is not a reform of the capitalist system, but its entire abolition…’ (From  a speech given by Eugene Debs in Chicago on July 4, 1901).

 There are still a few places available at Summer School on 21st – 23rd July in Birmingham, but bookings will have to close on Wednesday 5th July. For more information on what’s happening over the weekend and how to make a booking, click here.

Yet another story about the continuing assault on the living standards of the working class – in these case it’s Italians who continue to be affected.

‘Soaring inflation is causing Italian households to curb spending on food, according to a report by the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria).

The report showed household spending on groceries is in “sharp decline.” It dropped by 3.7% in 2022, and by 8.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 when compared with the first quarter of 2021.

“This has become a burden on overall consumption, given that spending on food accounts for 14% of all expenses, second only to spending on housing, water and energy (23%),” Confindustria wrote.

The head of the National Consumer Union (UNC), Massimiliano Dona, described the report as “alarming” and claimed that “Italians are on a forced diet due to skyrocketing inflation.”

He noted that the situation had a serious negative effect on economic growth, considering that “consumption represents 60% of GDP and that, if Italians don’t buy, then merchants don’t sell and businesses do not produce.”

UNC experts earlier noted that the trend of cutting back on food in Italy had emerged during the pandemic. Analysts found that in January 2023, purchases decreased by 4.4% in physical terms compared to one year previously, and by 6.3% compared to the same month of 2021.’

Great to know there’s some good news in the world. German arms manufacturer’s profits up by 27%. There’ll be more German workers being exploited by the capitalist class too. Forty billion euros of ammunition will be sold up to 2031. Get in touch with your stockbroker quickly and get a piece of the pie. Arms manufacturers are saying to undertakers, hold my beer.

How long is the global working class going to let this insanity continue?

‘Dusseldorf-based arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest defence contractor, has recorded a surge in orders due to the conflict in Ukraine, Die Welt reported on Friday, citing company data.

According to the report, the company received 18% more orders in 2022 than the year prior. It is now planning to significantly increase production.

The report notes that the arms maker intends to launch a new munitions production line at the Rheinmetall plant in Lower Saxony in the near future and hire several hundred additional employees, aiming to increase its output capacity to the level of the 1980s at 600,000 rounds of ammunition per year.

As noted by the news outlet, thousands of people are already working in three shifts at the facility in order to speed up work on current orders. This reportedly includes maintenance and repairs of Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Leopard 2 tanks and Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery units, and ammunition for Ukraine.

Rheinmetall reportedly expects double-digit sales growth in the coming years. The company forecasts that Germany alone will have to buy €40 billion ($43.6 billion) worth of ammunition by 2031. Earlier this week, the German Bundeswehr placed its latest order with Rheinmetall for 367 protected and unprotected logistic vehicles worth around €285 million.

Germany reportedly ranked sixth globally in weapons exports in 2022, with defense contractors enjoying order backlogs and soaring profits amid global rearming due to the conflict in Ukraine. According to estimates, Berlin approved arms exports totaling over €8.35 billion last year, the country’s second-highest figure ever, after an all-time high of €9.35 billion in 2021.

Rheinmetall earlier reported record €6.4 billion earnings for 2022, up by 27% from 2021, along with a record order backlog of €26.6 billion. In the first quarter of 2023, the company’s consolidated sales rose by roughly €97 million, or 7.6% year-on-year, to €1.4 billion. The backlog increased by 8% year-on-year to €28.2 billion.’

https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2020s/2023/no-1427-july-2023/

 ‘Will the BRI [Belt and Road Initiative] prove to be a platform that offers an alternative to the capitalist world order?…This world will be less Chinese, although the renminbi RMB) will be widely accepted as a reserve currency. ‘

 It’s outrageous”, Sara Parkin, the Green Party spokeswoman was quoted as saying, “that water should become a capitalist commodity”.

‘Britain’s model of privatised utilities is facing its biggest crisis since Margaret Thatcher was selling off the the family silver in the 1980s.

Thames Water, the UK’s latest water company, is in emergency talks with the water regulator Ofwat, ministers and government departments, amid concerns it needs a multibillion cash injection to keep operating.

The water company, which serves 15 million customers, could be put into temporary national ownership by ministers to secure a refinancing package.’

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2023/jun/29/uk-privatisation-thames-water-crisis-nationalisation-cost-of-living-economics-business-live

‘The government has “no true grasp on the costs” involved in preventing a collapse of Thame Water, with estimates presented to ministers and regulators suggesting the company could be facing a hole of £10bn in its finances, the Guardian can reveal.

The water company, which serves 15 million customers, is in emergency talks with the water regulator Ofwat, ministers and government departments after the departure of its chief executive and concerns over its ability to continue operating without a multibillion cash injection.

 Measures under discussion include placing Thames into temporary national ownership, in order to secure a refinancing package. That could mean public funds and higher bills for customers may be needed.’

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/28/thames-water-in-crisis-talks-over-potential-10bn-black-hole-cost-possible-collapse

‘For decades, water firms, which were handed a monopoly with no debts at privatisation in 1989, have been loading up debt to pay dividends while failing to adequately invest in the infrastructure to fulfil their legal duty: to provide clean water to customers and treat their sewage. ‘

‘Signs of the precarious financial situation that many privatised water companies have put themselves in have been clear for many years, as they loaded up debt to pay dividends. ‘

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/28/mounting-debts-and-public-anger-could-finally-sink-uk-water-companies

The Sun reports, ‘Government plans to temporarily nationalise debt-ridden Thames Water should it collapse ‘

‘One option that emerged from contingency talks is to place it (Thames Water) in special administration, in effect nationalising it briefly…’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/22855842/government-plans-temporarily-nationalising-thames-water-collapse/

The call for nationalisation of Thames Water in particular and utilities in general will no doubt reach a crescendo. State ownership isn’t the solution.

The replacement of capitalism by Socialism is.

Let us not forget that clean, sufficient water available on demand is an issue for many millions across the globe.

Privatisation of water utilities isn’t the main problem. The problem is that water fulfils the necessary functions of a commodity and ‘Commodity production is a hall-mark of capitalism.’ The shareholders of Thames Water, and others, are aware that its primary function is to make profits and increase their dividends.

This Blog has posted separately a piece from the Socialist Standard, November 1989 which explains in depth why water is a commodity.

https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1989/1980s/no-1023-november-1989/why-water-commodity/

The United Kingdom is listed as second richest in Europe with a GDP of 2.7trillion dollars (2020). The UK is the world’s sixth largest economy.

The Tressell Trust was featured in an article in the Socialist Standard, June 2023.

https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2020s/2023/no-1426-june-2023/material-world-food-another-banking-failure/

The latest report from the Tressell Trust highlights the extent to which food poverty is impacting on very many in the UK.

One in seven people in the UK faced hunger last year due to a lack of money, they say.

The survey said this equated to an estimated 11.3 million people.

About 7% of Britain’s population was provided with charitable food support in the year to mid-2022, while 71% of people facing food shortages said they had not yet accessed any such support.

‘… insufficient income is the fundamental driver for almost all people forced to use a food bank. The vast majority (86%) of people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network in mid-2022 have an income so low that they were experiencing destitution when they were supported by the food bank. These already low incomes are further destabilised by a lack of savings and having to cope with arrears and debt.’

Those most impacted are:

‘More than a third (35%) of renters experience food insecurity. This rises to 45% of people living in socially rented housing, with 29% for people in private rented housing. This compares to 6% of people who have a mortgage. One in four (24%) people from an ethnic minority group experience food insecurity, almost twice the rate (13%) for white people. Similarly, more than a quarter of disabled people (26%) experience food insecurity, nearly three times higher than the rate amongst non-disabled people (10%). Nearly a quarter (23%) of unpaid carers experience food insecurity, compared to 12% of non-carers. A fifth (20%) of people living alone experience food insecurity, compared to 13% of people who don’t live alone. 18% of working-age adults experience food insecurity, compared to 3% of people over the age of 65 Nearly a quarter (23%) of households with dependent children experience food insecurity compared to 11% of those without. This rises to nearly half (48%) of single adults living with children.’

In the report’s introduction the Chief Executive of the Trust says:

‘That means we know what needs to change if we’re going to build a more just society where everyone has enough money for the essentials. It is clear that we need a social security system which provides protection and dignity for people to cover the costs of their own essentials, such as food and bills.’

‘Because in coming together, and working together, we will build a future where none of us need a food bank, because none of us will allow it.’

https://www.trusselltrust.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/2023-Hunger-in-the-UK-report.pdf

As noted in the June Socialist Standard article, we disagree with the first comment the Chief Executive made. Whist a capitalist society continues to receive support from very many including those globally who suffer badly under that system then sticking plaster solutions are not the answer.

We agree with the second sentiment which she expressed; working together we can build a future where none of us will ever need a food bank ever again.

Our solution is one that eradicates the problem once and for all:

‘What is the solution to permanently eradicating food poverty and poverty and inequality completely? It’s what we in the Socialist Party have been putting forward for over a hundred years – the replacement of capitalism with a money-free, wage-free, class-free society where goods are produced for use, not profit. Abolish charity. Abolish capitalism. You owe it to yourselves.’