Poverty, Sense of Belonging and Experiences of Social Isolation

This article compares experiences of social isolation and perceptions of belonging between lower-income and higher-income people. We conducted individual interviews with 60 higher-income and 59 lower-income study participants and six group interviews with 34 low-income participants from two Canadian cities. Subsequently, a representative sample of 1,671 lower- and higher-income participants was surveyed by telephone. Income was a consistent predictor of measures of isolation and sense of belonging to the community: lower-income people experienced greater isolation and a lower sense of belonging than did higher-income people. Poverty shaped low-income people's perceptions and experiences of stigmatization and isolation.