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economist suntribune social issues saturday aug 3 2002 11 wide gap between haves and havenots in region from page 1 significant number of new immigrants he said surveys of immigrants indi cate that while past concerns centred on career and governmental issues theyre now indicating problems closer to home this time for the first year basic necessities was one of the things that showed up mr glover said fewer employment opportunities exacerbated by a reluctance among canadian employers to recognize for eign qualifications along with a tight housing market and rising costs are combining to create a tough climate for new arrivals he said they come with maybe 10000 to 15000 in their pocket mr glover said theyre not destitute but its gone in three months although york region remains as the gta municipality with the highest aver age household income there is a widen ing gap between the haves and have- nots said elizabeth wagle director of family and childrens services with york regions community services and hous ing department immigrants come with maybe 10000 to 15000 in their pocket theyre not destitute but its gone in three months she produced statistics that show in 1996 york region was home to approxi mately 22300 households with an income less than 30000 of that num ber some 80percent were below statistics canadas low income cutoff lico popularly referred to as the poverty line by 1999 the number of households living on less than 30000 annually had climbed to 40000 households below the lico level are spending more than 55percent of their income on necessities such as shelter food and clothing as of june 3 there were 4838 house holds on waiting lists for affordable housing in york region 2388 of them families with children in addition emergency shelters in the region are filled to capacity and see ing an increasing number of families among them families with working par ents among their clientele people tend to think of york region as a very rich region and it is at some levels ms wagle said but the polariza tion of salaries is happening here theres a growing number of low- income families emerging there is great concern for children caught in the web of poverty their social and physical development can be ham pered by living in households in which the stresses of poverty are prevalent ms wagle said theres a real impact on child devel opment she said it creates anxiety for children its not the best environment for children to be in if there is a consensus among agency workers and regional officials it is that governments must do more to bridge me service gaps that are encountered by die impoverished that means money but govern ments particularly the conservative regime at queens park have embarked on campaigns of social spending cuts not enhancement york region has adopted programs for families and children and put up the money to fund them ms wagle said however the municipality continues to receive less than 60percent of the provincial average for social spending in short provincial payments have not kept pace with the rapid rate of growth experienced in the region among the regional initiatives that have been launched in response to the increasing demand on services is the creation of the human services planning coalition a thinktank com prised of government and social agency representatives its goal is to ensure the provision of services to all segments of society said susan taylor director of human services planning with the region human services planning is about equity and access about leveling the playing field for everyone especially those who are at risk ms taylor said when gaps in service occur in one area the consequences are often felt in another area this report on poverty just proves our point mr glover said municipalities and agencies must lobby federal and provin cial politicians to make sure the issue of child poverty is not swept aside and ignored i think its up to agencies and individuals to at 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