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MEASURES

INDICATORS AND OUTCOMES

• About the indicators
• The Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel
• The indicators

Setting targets and establishing indicators that measure progress is an important part of our Poverty Reduction Strategy. Our government knows that if you want to improve something, it must first be measured. Measuring progress will help the government understand where progress is being made and inform decision making where it is not.

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About the indicators

Poverty reduction is a complex undertaking requiring a broad, multi-pronged approach over time. Measuring improvement similarly requires a comprehensive set of indicators against which to measure progress.

A set of eight indicators was selected during the strategy development process which, when taken together, provide a reliable measure of the Poverty Reduction Strategy's impact. These eight indicators cover key aspects of the dimensions of opportunity, such as income levels, education, health, housing and standard of living. Our eight indicators are:

1. School Readiness
2. High School Graduation Rates
3. Educational Progress
4. Birth Weights
5. Low Income Measure (LIM)
6. Depth of Poverty
7. Standard of Living
8. Ontario Housing Measure

Statistics Canada data for the income-based indicators lags by 18 months. This means that this 2010 report reflects the 2008 baseline data from which we will measure progress. It is important to note that Statistics Canada has revised the method used to calculate the Low Income Measure (LIM) to make it consistent with the way it is calculated internationally. Our baseline income data is based on this revised measure and means our goal of reducing child poverty by 25 per cent over five years requires lifting 103,000 children out of poverty by 2013.³ The LIM indicators in this report should not be compared to LIM indicators in previous reports as they were calculated differently.

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The Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel

The Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel provides a visual summary of improvements in each of the eight indicators over time, and will be updated from our 2008 baseline year as 2009 data on income indicators becomes available next year.

Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel

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The indicators

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Indicator 1: School Readiness

Children have a better chance to succeed as students when they come to school ready to learn. They need to be healthy. They need social and emotional competencies. They need language, thinking and communications skills, and the general knowledge to participate in, and benefit from, their educational experiences.

This indicator is based on the Early Development Instrument, a population-based measure of children's readiness to learn at school, taken from a representative sample of children from across the province. Administered in Senior Kindergarten, it measures children's readiness to learn at school in five domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and general knowledge and communication skills.

As reported last year, between 2007–09, 71.5 per cent of children surveyed showed no vulnerabilities. This means that most children in Ontario are doing well, but there are some who are vulnerable to poorer outcomes and who may need additional supports to learn at school.

The data supports the view that children who attended Junior Kindergarten are more ready for school than children who did not attend Junior Kindergarten.

The data is gathered from one third of Ontario school boards each year. As a result, it takes three years to cover the province. The 2007-2009 data represents our baseline; the next cycle for reporting will be 2010–12.

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Indicator 2: High School Graduation Rates

In our knowledge- and skills-based economy, graduating from high school is more important than ever before. Young people with a secondary school graduation diploma have improved chances for a better job and more earning power throughout their lives.

This indicator represents the percentage of high school students who have earned an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, in each graduating year. Ontario's graduation rate measures the percentage of students who graduated within five years of having started Grade 9 together. High school graduation is an important predictor of a student's future earning power and ability to succeed in college or university.

For the 2007–08 year, the high school graduation rate in Ontario was 77 per cent. For the 2008–09 year, our baseline for future reporting, the high school graduation rate in Ontario was 79 per cent. The graduation rate has increased 11 percentage points since 2003–04.

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Indicator 3: Educational Progress

Provincewide assessment is one important measure of children's progress in literacy and numeracy, and enables us to pinpoint areas for improvement. This measure provides critically important information on planning for student achievement.

This indicator is based on the EQAO provincial assessment of student achievement as measured against the learning expectations in Ontario's curriculum. It reflects the overall scores on the Grades 3 and 6 reading, writing and math assessments.

For the 2009–10 assessment year, 62 per cent of the Grade 3 students in reading, 71 per cent in writing, and 71 per cent in math were at or above the provincial standard on EQAO assessments.

For the 2009–10 assessment year, 72 per cent of the Grade 6 students in reading, 71 per cent in writing and 61 per cent in math were at or above the provincial standard on EQAO assessments.

In 2009-10, 68 per cent of Grade 3 and Grade 6 students are mastering the reading, writing and math skills that will lead to success in high school, postsecondary education and the workforce. This is up from our 2008-09 baseline of 67 per cent and represents a 14 percentage point increase since 2002–03.

Since 2003, the government has reduced class sizes in the primary grades, increased teacher training and raised the graduation rate. Across Ontario, 400 new, publicly funded schools have been built or are underway. And this year, up to 35,000 four- and five-year-olds are in the Full-Day Kindergarten Program at almost 600 schools.

Helping students reach their full potential is also part of the Open Ontario Plan. Students who achieve early success in school are more likely to perform well later in school and go on to postsecondary education. This ensures that Ontario will have the skilled workforce to compete in the global economy.

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Indicator 4: Birth Weights

Healthy children have more opportunity to succeed in virtually every aspect of life, and throughout their lives, from early childhood to adulthood.

This indicator represents the percentage of newborns born at a healthy weight for their gestational age. Research indicates that babies born to low-income families more often have below normal birth weights, which can put them at a higher risk for poor future health outcomes.

In 2007–2009, 80 per cent of Ontario-born babies were born at a healthy weight. This represents our baseline for future reporting and will be updated in 2012.⁴

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Indicator 5: Low Income Measure

The Poverty Reduction Strategy uses Statistics Canada's Low Income Measure (LIM50) to assess progress in reducing child poverty. This measure is defined as the percentage of children under 18 living in a household with an income less than 50 per cent of the median adjusted household income in 2008. This year, Statistics Canada revised the method of calculating the LIM. Our 2008 baseline data, first reported this year, reflects this revised methodology and shows that 412,000, or 15.2 per cent, of children in Ontario were below the LIM50. In 2008, the LIM50 line for a single parent with one child was $26,279 and for a two-parent, two-child household was $37,164.

As we move forward, the LIM50 will be fixed to the baseline of 2008 and adjusted for inflation in future years. The immediate goal of the Poverty Reduction Strategy is to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over five years, that is 103,000 kids.

Low Income Measure Lines (LIM50 after tax)

Household Size	2008
1 person	$18,582
2 persons	$26,279
3 persons	$32,185
4 persons	$37,164
5 persons	$41,551
6 persons	$45,516

The chart below shows the trends using Statistics Canada's LIMs, which vary with changes in median income. The LIM50 rate for Ontario children declined steadily from 2004 to 2007. This declining trend reflected a strong and growing economy and increased provincial and federal transfers that helped those in poverty. However, the LIM50 rate for children increased in 2008 to 15.2 per cent, up from 14.1 per cent in 2007. Developing weakness in the labour market over the course of the year contributed to the increase in the LIM50 for children. The LIM50 rate also increased in 2008 for other groups, including seniors.

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Indicator 6: Depth of Poverty

Families living in deep poverty are disadvantaged across many dimensions of life, and face severe challenges in building brighter futures for their children and breaking the cycle of poverty. This indicator tells us how Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy is improving the well-being of those who are most disadvantaged in our society.

This indicator is based on the Low Income Measure (LIM40). This represents the percentage of children under 18 living in a household with an income less than 40 per cent of the median adjusted household income. Based on this measure, in 2008, 230,000 children or 8.5 per cent of all children in Ontario were in deep poverty. Data for 2009 is expected to be released in June 2011.

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Indicator 7: Standard of Living

Fighting poverty means looking beyond income and examining the realities of life for our most disadvantaged families and children. The Ontario Deprivation Index is a new measure that tells us what percentage of Ontario children are being raised in poverty. This measure puts Ontario at the forefront of measuring poverty and is believed to be the first of its kind in North America.

This indicator is a measure developed for the Poverty Reduction Strategy by the Caledon Institute and the Daily Bread Food Bank, in partnership with Statistics Canada and the Ontario government. The measure identifies a child as having a poverty-level standard of living if at least two out of the ten items in the index are missing in the child's household because the family cannot afford them.⁵ It is a tool that brings important new insights to poverty measurement because it reflects the real life experiences of low-income Ontarians and captures dimensions of poverty that income alone does not, for example, social isolation. The index includes questions such as, "Are you able to get dental care if needed?" and "Do you have appropriate clothes for job interviews?"

For 2008, 12.5 per cent of Ontario children were lacking two or more items. The first release was based on a special survey conducted by Statistics Canada in March and April, 2009. For future years, data for the Ontario Deprivation Index will be collected annually through Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). As with the income indicators, the 2009 data will be available with an 18 month lag and will be reported in next year's annual report.

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Indicator 8: the Ontario Housing Measure

Children have better chances to thrive and grow – emotionally, mentally and academically – when they live in safe, stable housing. This measure tells us how many low-income households with children have housing costs that are disproportionately high relative to household income, a factor that can affect children's ability to thrive and grow in a supportive environment.

The Ontario Housing Measure lays out the percentage of households with children under 18 that have incomes below 40 per cent of the median household income (LIM40), and spend more than 40 per cent of their income on housing. As with the other income measures, the 2008 Ontario Housing Measure reported here is the baseline. The 2009 data will be available with an 18 month lag and will be reported in next year's annual report.

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³Based on Statistics Canada's revised methodology for calculating the Low Income Measure. For further information on the revised LIM, see www.ontario.ca/breakingthecycle.  Return to text

⁴Source: BORN ONTARIO (Niday Perinatal Database).  Return to text

⁵For more information, please see Developing a Deprivation Index: The Research Process, available at www.dailybread.ca and www.caledoninst.org.  Return to text

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Breaking the Cycle: The First Two Years

• 2010 Report Home
• Minister's Message
• Introduction: The First Two Years
• Progress: Building on the Foundation
• Measures: Indicators and Outcomes
• Outlook: for 2011

Download full report (PDF).