Families who work for low wages face impossible choices — buy food or heat the house, feed the children or pay the rent. The result can be spiraling debt, constant anxiety and long-term health problems. In many cases it means that the adults in the family are working long hours, often at two or three jobs, just to pay for basic necessities. They have little time to spend with their family, much less to help their children with school work or participate in community activities. The frustration of working harder only to fall further behind is one many Canadians can relate to. Recent CCPA research shows that most families are taking home a smaller share of the economic pie despite working longer hours, getting more education and contributing to a growing economy. Despite stable economic growth and consistently low unemployment, Manitoba’s poverty rate has remained above the national rate. In 2007, (the most recent year for which data are available) 9.8 per cent of Manitobans were living on low incomes, the third highest of all provinces after British Columbia and Quebec. In addition, in 2005 Winnipeg tied for the highest poverty rate of all large urban areas in Canada at 15 per cent.