Poverty in Canada is on the rise, particularly among certain groups. While in developing countries poverty may affect much of the population, in a more developed country such as Canada it is largely restricted to specific groups. Such groups are often excluded from full participation in our social and economic institutions. There are many factors behind this lack of wealth and opportunity; addressing the phenomenon of poverty can be a complicated matter.

Government demographer and lecturer Raghubar D. Sharma provides the first concise discussion of the specific groups that are affected by poverty, including the elderly, ethnic poverty, child poverty, and the "working poor." Chapters focus on these groups and explore the circumstances behind their exclusion. Sharma also looks into a larger trend behind the rise of poverty: a massive economic transformation akin to the Industrial Revolution of the early 1700s has been underway since the 1980s. This phenomenon of "globalization" is eliminating labour-intensive jobs and polarizing the job market into high-skill, high-paying jobs on one hand and low-skill, low-paying jobs on the other. In these circumstances, the less-qualified, the disadvantaged, and the discriminated are unable to find decent jobs, and hence are destined to a life of poverty. As the world becomes a global village, there is an urgent need to understand poverty in Canada.

Sharma's book, one of the first to consider the wide range of factors behind poverty in Canada, will be accessible to students as well as general readers interested in the growing reality of wealth inequality.

Raghubar D. Sharma's profile page

Raghubar D. Sharma has worked for over 30 years in the Ontario Public Service on demographic, social economics, employment equity, education, and child welfare programs. He is currently a coordinator of forecasting and analysis for child welfare. He is a regular lecturer at the University of Toronto and has taught courses on sociology of poverty, social inequality, demography, social problems, and statistics at the University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, and University of Toronto. Dr. Sharma has also held research positions with York University and an overseas research centre of Johns Hopkins University.