The widespread housing crisis in Quebec is strengthening several households to tighten their belts on food. However, a study published at the beginning of July by the Quebec Observatory of inequalities goes even further.
“It was guessed that too expensive rents had an impact on food insecurity, but the report confirms this intuition with data for the first time,” explains Sandy Torres, sociologist and main researcher of the study.
And the figures do not lie. According to the expert, 30 % of people who occupy housing considered unaffordable have difficulty feeding adequately.
Housing is considered affordable if the cleaning devotes less than 30 % of its total income to housing costs, which include rent, mortgage payments, property taxes, heating and electricity costs, recalls the report of Ms. Torres entitled Housing crisis in Quebec: what effects on food insecurity.
The report reveals that the double burden of food insecurity and the housing crisis is mainly based on the shoulders of tenants in the private sector, which are subject to hikes of staggering rents from the pandemic.
The researcher explains that housing expenses are difficult to compress, forcing households to sacrifice part of the budget allocated to food to round off ends.
“We cannot negotiate with our owner a discount on the rent because we are tighter this month. So, the only thing that remains to be cut is food, ”says the interview with interview with The sun.
The study also reveals that “the affordability of housing does not represent a guarantee of food security” and that it is possible that a household living in housing proportional to its income does not eat its hunger.
“Other difficulty compressible expenses exist, such as health care or drugs,” says Torres.
Do “window weighing” to feed
The Quebec Observatory for inequalities has managed various research projects related to food insecurity in Quebec. In general, studies reveal that the situation has worsens for three years.
According to the most recent statistics Canada data, 15.7 % of the Quebec population lives in a household insecurity
— Québec 2024
The expensive cost of living is often cited by experts as the main cause of food insecurity. Ms. Torres recalls that the rent corresponds to a large portion of monthly expenses for low -income households.
About fifty citizens affected various degrees by difficulties in terms of housing and food were interviewed for the study.
The duality between eating and lodging has been mentioned in several testimonies.
“You want to have a roof on your head!” But you can’t eat as you want because you have to pay to get your roof on your head, “said a retired woman as part of the study.
To guarantee the protection of the privacy and personal data of the study participants, their anonymity is preserved.
Ms. Torres explains that the first strategies used to compensate for food insecurity are to give up healthy foods and feed at low prices.
“Here, I have a gentleman who is hesitant to buy fruit. It is written: the food is so expensive that I have to do shop wearing to feed myself, ”you can read in the report.
According to the expert, other strategies, such as using food aid or depriving themselves of eating, are indicative of higher food insecurity.
The Quebec 2024 Quebec Faim Balance sheet reveals that the food banks responded to one million more requests than in 2021, for a total of 2.9 million services rendered. The vast majority of these requests come from “tenant households”.
“Several employees working in food banks note a link between the increase in food aid requests and the shortage of housing,” says Torres.
Bringing “Up to the neck”
If the situation particularly affects the tenants, the sociologist stresses that the owners are not spared “double burden”.
“The real estate market was seriously affected by the pandemic. Many owners are in debt to the neck by a mortgage loan, which affects their ability to eat adequately, ”she says.
To cope with food insecurity, the middle class develops different strategies: discount hunting, rigorous planning of meals and home cooking.
“It implies that people don’t necessarily eat what they want, but rather what they can,” she said.
Social housing as a fresh “air puff”
If food breakdown services are an effective daily solution to meet food needs, Torres believes that it is necessary to act “on the deep causes of the problem”.
“Social housing is air puffs in food insecure. As the rent price is established according to income, it remains more at the end of the month to eat, ”notes the researcher.
For study participants, social housing are synonymous with “stability and quality of life”.
Ms. Torres says that several people told her that she waited for more than a year before having access to social housing.
The sociologist also believes that part of the solution is listening to the main concerned.
“People are experts in their daily situation. They spend a lot of time looking for resources and are well aware of their needs, she concludes. Just hold the ear. ”