Without A Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey
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Debt load and cheque cashing<br />
Past research has clearly shown that street-involved youth are an incredibly disadvantaged<br />
segment of the Canadian population (e.g., they often experience low education, poor<br />
nutrition, and high levels of unemployment). In addition, according to the results of<br />
this research, many street-involved youth are in debt and about half use payday loan<br />
companies. <strong>The</strong> statistics in Figure 7 explore the level of debt incurred by street youth. Of<br />
all the categories shown in the figure, youth most commonly owe money to cell phone<br />
providers (42%), followed by debt to family and friends (32%).<br />
FIGURE 7<br />
Debt load: How much money do you owe and to whom?<br />
Friends<br />
$395<br />
Landlords<br />
12%<br />
Phone<br />
Providers<br />
$631<br />
Drug<br />
Dealers<br />
14%<br />
Family<br />
$1,163<br />
Credit<br />
Cards<br />
24%<br />
Tickets<br />
$1,229<br />
Tickets<br />
30%<br />
Drug<br />
Dealers<br />
$1,255<br />
Friends<br />
32%<br />
Credit<br />
Cards<br />
$1,537<br />
Family<br />
32%<br />
Landlords<br />
$1,542<br />
Phone<br />
Providers<br />
42%<br />
Average amount owed, in Canadian dollars<br />
Payday Loan<br />
When asked how many times they used a payday loan company in the past year, 29% of<br />
youth reported between one and five times, and 17% reported over six times. In total, 46%<br />
of the sample reported to have gotten a payday loan in the past year. This compares to 4%<br />
of Canadian families who used a payday loan in 2015 (Schecter, 2016). Interestingly, there<br />
was a positive correlation (r=.119, n=894, p
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