Research Partnership Announced
Study to focus on precarious employment and its relationship to poverty
United Way Toronto and McMaster University have formed an important research partnership to examine the issue of precarious employment and its relationship to poverty. This study, Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario, will look at the effect of job instability on families and communities in our region.
As project leads, United Way Toronto and McMaster University will be working in collaboration with academic researchers and a number of important community partners and contributors, including other United Ways from the region and United Way Toronto agencies.
This new research will help build on the findings of United Way's 2007 research report Losing Ground that revealed a link between rising poverty and growth in precarious employment. Losing Ground surfaced an emerging picture of growing poverty among Toronto's working poor — families who struggle to make ends meet despite often working two or three jobs; this picture of poverty also revealed growing trends of bankruptcy, family indebtedness, and housing evictions.
United Way's research partnership with McMaster University will help to deepen our understanding of the connection between precarious employment and poverty. The research will involve several components:
- a population-based survey of households in Southern Ontario — defined as the Toronto Economic Region including Hamilton — to assess the impact of unstable jobs on a family's household and the community;
- a secondary survey to track trends of precarious employment over time; and,
- six case studies led by researchers from McMaster University, Ryerson University, York University and community partners that will examine more deeply the effects of precarious employment.
Funding for this project will come from a five-year, $1 million Community University Research Alliance (CURA) grant from the federal government, which will be managed by McMaster University. The project is set to get underway this month.
Academic and community partners and participants:
- Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services
- Brampton Mississauga and District Labour Council
- Canadian Labour Congress
- CAW-Canada
- City of Toronto
- COSTI Immigrant Services
- Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre
- Flinders University
- Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction
- JVS Toronto
- McMaster Poverty Initiative
- McMaster University
- Migrant Workers Centre
- Region of Peel
- Ryerson University
- Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton-Wentworth
- Social Planning Council of Peel
- Social Planning Toronto
- Statistics Canada
- The Atkinson Foundation
- The University of Sydney
- The Workers Action Centre
- Toronto Star
- Toronto Training Board
- United Way of Peel Region
- United Way of York Region
- University of New South Wales
- York University
