The Quebec Observatory of Inequalities | “The pandemic has exacerbated inequalities that were already there”

As you can guess, the increase in the cost of living does not affect everyone in the same way. Some people, who were already struggling to make ends meet, have to deprive themselves more. But people who had good coping skills before the pandemic years tend to do better now, despite the increase in stressors.

“What surprised me was to see a lot of resilience in people who live in sometimes difficult, often modest, not to say frugal living conditions for some,” explains Sandy Torres, author of a new report from the Quebec Observatory of Inequalities, unveiled Wednesday. “We see how these people have resources to navigate through all this and get through the health crisis. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for them, but what amazed me was to see this mixture of resilience and vulnerability. »

This Resilience Project was specifically interested in the Quebec population whose income is in the lowest 40%, which therefore does not only include people living in poverty, but also those who are “on the margins”. of the middle class.

For people living on a tight budget, the added pressure caused by the rising cost of living has manifested itself differently during the pandemic. Some had to sell their car to arrive, dip into their savings, stay in inadequate housing or postpone their plan to buy a house, or even find a roommate. They also borrowed money from a family member, the report tells us. Young people under the age of 35 who took part in the Observatory project have also resigned themselves to returning to live in the parental home.

The researcher surveyed a cohort of around fifty people three times during the years 2021 and 2022, during the fourth and fifth waves of COVID-19. The participants came from different regions of Quebec and ranged in age from 19 to 90. All live in a low or modest income household.

“The pandemic has exacerbated inequalities that were already there. On the other hand, it has undoubtedly generated other inequalities. I am thinking, among other things, of the digital divide,” says Sandy Torres.

In his report, he talks about financial resilience, that is to say the ability to deal with unforeseen events in the budget.

When you don’t have a margin, that imposes resilience, doesn’t it?

“This is where there is a great injustice, says Sandy Torres. Cutting back on expenses is a strategy everyone adopts when they are in financial difficulty. »

However, she says, when the budget is very tight, you have to cut current expenses. The rising cost of living has put an end to savings for those who were already vulnerable. This makes them more vulnerable to the unexpected.

Solutions

In the Resilience Project report, participants talk about how they manage to pay expenses with a budget under pressure. Among the simple solutions: buy products on sale, cook more and freeze, buy used and recover donated goods.

Financially vulnerable people have refocused their spending on the essentials: food. But with the rise in grocery prices, it was necessary to go further in many cases and change habits, even turn to food banks. Worst-case scenario meant skipping meals.

At the end of her study, the researcher asked the participants what the lessons of the pandemic had been. Many said they wanted to adopt better financial management.

What to do, concretely?

“Set more money aside to reduce financial stress,” said one young participant. You never know what the future holds for us. »

Another observation: people who turned to community resources and outside help were more resilient.

Among the good practices mentioned, in bulk: volunteering, being active in the community, practicing physical or well-being activities – walking, spirituality, meditation and doing online activities.

“Finding solutions is one of the strong elements of the resilience process,” says Sandy Torres. And solutions that don’t just come from you, but that society makes available to us. »