By Kendall Worth
Every year, as November fades and December approaches, a particular feeling settles in for Income Assistance recipients across Halifax. Today is November 22nd, 2025, and with December just around the corner, many people living on Income Assistance are already bracing themselves.
December is supposed to be a season of warmth, celebration, and community — yet for far too many, it is a month filled with stress, emotional exhaustion, and financial fear.
Living on $1005.00 for the month,
or in some cases even less as explained in this post
here:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2025/10/income-and-community-overlooked-factor.html
means
that every week of December becomes a strategic struggle.
And as this post shows, Christmas — unlike
Thanksgiving or Easter — is not a single-day holiday. It can feel
like a two-week to one-month long expectation of celebration,
spending, and social
connection:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2025/10/connecting-dots-between-holiday-season.html
What People Shared With Me
Recently, I conducted a small group interview with four Income Assistance recipients who chose not to be named. Their anonymity matters.
People living in poverty often fear the consequences of speaking publicly — not because they are ashamed, but because of how others treat them once they find out they’re on Income Assistance. Their social circles, acquaintances, and even family can be deeply influenced by welfare-related stigma.
For more on the stigma I’m talking about, I
invite readers to explore this
link:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/search/label/stigma
And these important
articles:
https://nsadvocate.org/2017/03/27/downright-difficult-kendall-worth-on-friendships-ending/
https://nsadvocate.org/2017/10/05/letter-from-kendall-worth-mind-your-own-business/
People have lost friendships, family relationships, and emotional safety simply because they were honest about being on Income Assistance. That’s why I protect identities, or use pseudonyms when needed. In this case, the four people I spoke with all said the same thing:
“We don’t want someone who is lucky enough to get a Christmas invitation to lose it because they spoke publicly about being poor plus spoke publicly about the Bureaucratic Non-cents and systematic problems that comes with living on income assistance in Nova Scotia.”
For more background on how people Living on Income Assistance in Nova Scotia navigate December in general,
see:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/search/label/December
Inflation and the Cost of December 2025
Even though inflation slowed down in some areas this year, the effects of last year’s price spikes are still with us, making everything more expensive — food, gifts, outings, transportation, and even the cost of attending Christmas gatherings.
More on inflation
here:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/search/label/inflation
This year, the impact of inflation will once again hit people living in poverty from all sides — financially, socially, and mentally. I’ve written before about the “Bombs” that fall on people in poverty:
- Social Isolation
- Mental health stress
- Financial pressure
December 2025 will be no different. In fact, people expect it to be worse.
Person #2’s Story
One of the four interviewees — I’ll call him Person #2 — used to get invited to family Christmas dinners. But he hasn’t been invited in seven years. His parents are aging, with health conditions that make hosting difficult.
When he spoke to his father recently, his dad said something heartbreaking but brutally honest:
“Even if we were healthy enough to cook Christmas dinner this year, because of inflation we would have to ask every guest to contribute $25.”
For most people, $25 might sound like a small ask. But for someone living on $1005 a month, that $25 can be the difference between food on the table and an empty cupboard. Subtracting $25 from his monthly budget would leave $980 to live on — not realistic.
So even the invitation he once had is now financially out of reach.
The Others Have No Invitations At All
Persons #1, #3, and #4 are even less fortunate. They have no invitations from family or friends.
And yet, as this blog post points out, Christmas
should be a reminder of the importance of having
community:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2024/12/on-importance-of-friends-and-support.html
But stigma does not magically disappear in December. If anything, the holidays make the loneliness more visible.
The Government’s Role — A Story of One-Time Help
Back in 2022, even the Tim Houston government
showed a bit of Christmas spirit by giving Income Assistance
recipients a one-time $250 payment to help with
inflation:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-christmas-wrap-up.html
But this support never appeared again in:
And here we are in 2025, facing
a December where that extra help would make a huge difference — yet
nothing has been announced.
People are worried. People are
tired. People are losing hope.
When Community Stepped Up — And When Funding Ran Out
In 2023, something beautiful happened. Through the All Together Link Project, we hosted a sober bar event during December — a small but powerful moment where people hurt by poverty and social isolation felt less alone for one day.
More about that event
here:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2023/12/jing-jangling-around-with-ideas-in-2023.html
And details on the overall project
here:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/search/label/All%20Together%20Link
But by mid-2024, the funding
ended:
https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/2024/06/all-together-link-is-coming-to-end.html
Which means no event in December 2024.
And
again, no event in December 2025.
No funding. No support. No
gathering.
A whole community loses something meaningful — not because people don’t care, but because the system won’t fund what actually works.
Conclusion: December Should Not Be This Hard
December should not be a time when your employment status determines whether you feel welcome, valued, or included.
No one should dread Christmas because of poverty, stigma, or the impossible math of surviving on Income Assistance during the most expensive month of the year.
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