Most Perth County residents satisfied with life despite socioeconomic challenges

The local United Way’s director of social research and planning identified affordable housing and food insecurity as two of the pressing issues raised during the agency’s recent quality-of-life survey.

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Despite these socioeconomic challenges, however, most Perth County residents reported being satisfied with their lives, Kristin Crane told Stratford city councilors during a mid-December presentation.

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Crane’s overview of the united Way Perth Huron’s Quality of Life report noted the many households in Perth and Huron counties that are spending a substantial chunk of their income on shelter.

“A median yearly after-tax income of $37,000 means that you’re paying 46 percent of your income just to pay for a one-bedroom apartment or one-bedroom rental,” she said.

Similarly, food insecurity was a top priority for survey respondents. Crane told councilors that 63 per cent of participants in the Social Research and Planning Council survey had experienced some sort of food insecurity. Families with children were the most impacted by the soaring food costs of recent years.

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With new statistics from Agri-Food Analytics Lab, which recently published its Canadian Food Price Report, predicting Canadian food costs will continue to rise in 2024, the average family will be spending roughly $700 a year more for groceries, Crane said.

“We found that 24 percent of people’s incomes did not meet their needs,” said Crane, “Of the respondents, 87 percent had to sacrifice their household food budget to pay for other expenses, such as rent or mortgage, utilities or transportation. Sixty-three percent of respondents are employed full-time.”

While almost one-third of survey respondents shared some sort of financial struggles, they also reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their lives, with low levels of stress across all age groups.

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“Self-reported life satisfaction is one of the most direct measures of quality of life,” said Crane, “Low levels of life satisfaction can be associated with poor mental health. Fortunately in Perth, 97 percent of people report being either moderately satisfied or very satisfied with their lives, so that’s very encouraging.”

Another highlight, Crane added, was the region’s robust small business community.

“We know that those small businesses and non-profits contributed significantly to quality of life,” she said. “They have a high rate of participation in the community, then purchase goods and services locally, and often hold fundraisers and volunteers at local events.

“They also employ many people in our region.”

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The Quality of Life report also affected on other issues in the region, including discrimination. In the survey, 69 per cent of immigrants and/or visible minorities reported experiencing some sort of discrimination in Perth and Huron counties, Crane said. The report indicated 81 percent of indigenous peoples had experienced some form of discrimination while Black residents had the highest self-reported experiences of discrimination at 86 per cent.

Since the report was conducted through randomized phone interviews with an appropriate sample size, the results were statistically significant and representative of the population as a whole, Crane said.

Looking ahead to 2024, Crane suggested that local workforces, governments, non-profits and community organizations should engage in diversity and education training to reduce discrimination to help improve the quality of life in Huron-Perth.

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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