Low income families often struggle more during the summer
Posted Jul 2, 2017 3:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It can be hard to occupy the kids during summertime but for low-income families it can be nearly impossible.
Parents working two full-time jobs to make ends meet don’t have access to school meal programs or daycare so their expenses can easily double.
According to a 2015 BMO Summer Spending Survey, typical monthly expenses cost Canadian families an average total of $2,735 during one month of summer, compared to $1,296 per month during the rest of the year.
Lt. Col. Larry Martin Public Relations Director for Southern Alberta for the Salvation Army says the organization offers different programs to help alleviate some of the financial stress.
“Summer camps, day camps and that kind of thing at a cost of about $25 per individual but there are subsidies that sometimes are available depending on family income,” said Martin. “We also run sleep away camps at the Salvation Army’s camp in Pine Lake and, again that’s subsidized based on income levels, so we do those kinds of things.”
For more details head to SalvationArmy.ca.
