This Christmas season is going to be hard for a lot of Albertans.
In November, the provincial unemployment rate spiked to nine per cent, the worst rate in 22 years. In Calgary, the numbers were even more dismaying jumping to 10.3 per cent giving the city the worst employment numbers in the country.
At the same time, Equifax Canada reported that debt levels across Canada – especially in Alberta – were on the rise. Average consumer debt increased to $22,000 and $29,000 in Calgary.
Equifax also reported that delinquency rates – 90 days behind or more – were also on the rise, growing to 1.14 per cent and 1.6 per cent.
Since oil prices collapsed, tens of thousands of Albertans have lost their jobs putting pressures on the economy and support agencies.
This year, 274 people accessed the Cochrane Food Bank in March – an increase of 48 per cent from the previous year.
Food bank officials told the Eagle that, “Typically, there is a percentage of food bank clients who are single use visitors who need the assistance of a food bank once or twice in an emergency. Now we are seeing an increase in returning clients who are struggling to find work or who have low paying jobs that don’t cover all their expenses.”
During the Christmas season all these stats and unfortunate realities point to the hard times for many Alberta families.
Not only are these people struggling to make ends meet, they are now faced with the stress of what to do for Christmas.
There is a lot of pressure around the holidays in terms of social events, gifts and family gatherings. All of these things cost money and they can be hard to say no to. That pressure is compounded if financial realities have vastly changed compared to the previous Christmas.
Those pressures can lead to stress, depression and other mental health issues that cause even more hardships to families and individuals.
Fortunately, Cochrane has many giving people who have stepped up to meet the growing need, whether through supporting food and clothing drives or this past weekend’s Stuff-A-Bus campaign. The latter, despite the frigid cold, had a great turnout stuffing a bus and trailer with both toys and food. Cochrane’s generosity is helping many have a merry Christmas or holiday season.
This year, with the economy struggling and so many people out of work, perhaps it is prime time to focus on the true spirit of the holidays and not as much on the commercialism that seems to drive them.
