A newly released policy brief claims poverty is hurting everyone in Niagara, not just the ones directly affected.

The report titled "Are the Consequences of Poverty Holding Niagara Back?", was released by Brock University's Niagara Community Observatory.

In the report, new economic analysis indicates that the consequences of poverty hurt the community to the tune of $1.38 billion dollars a year.

That number takes into account three types of costs:  transfers or 439 million in direct funding for support programs like Employment Insurance or Ontario Works, 662 million in lost productivity or private costs and 278 million in social costs for things like health care.

Professor David Siegel, Director of the Niagara Community Observatory at Brock says the situation in the region is not entirely grim.

Siegel says in some ways Niagara is better off than many comparable areas in Southern Ontario.

If you want to read the policy in full just go to Brock's website http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?tag=niagara-community-observatory