The story of child poverty in Canada is very much an urban story. One out of every 10 children living in urban areas was poor in 2010, compared to one in 20 children living in non-urban areas. Three quarters (or 76%) of all poor children in Canada lived in one of the urban centres shown [...]
Entries Tagged as 'child poverty'
Vancouver child poverty rate is second-highest in Canada
May 8th, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · No Comments · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
Tags: child poverty·living wage·poverty
Living wage reports reveal a big gap between actual wages and the costs of raising a family in BC
May 2nd, 2013 · Iglika Ivanova · 1 Comment · Economy, Education, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes, Women
How much do working parents need to earn to be able to afford to live in our community? There reports released today provide the answer for the three largest regional districts in BC, home to 2/3 of this province’s population: $19.62/hour in Metro Vancouver, $18.73/hour in Greater Victoria and $16.37/hour in the Fraser Valley.
Seeking a Real Families First Agenda this First BC Family Day
February 7th, 2013 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Children & youth, Economy, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Taxes
By Seth Klein and Adrienne Montani On February 11, British Columbians will enjoy a well-deserved new stat holiday. With the inaugural Family Day, Premier Christy Clark has made good on a promise made during her bid for the BC Liberal leadership. The winter stretch needed a new long weekend, and many will appreciate this new-found [...]
Tags: child poverty·children·living wage·minimum wage·poverty·welfare
The case for exempting child support from welfare
July 20th, 2012 · Kendra Milne · Comments Off · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Women
Based on recent announcements, it seems that the Ministry of Social Development is in the mood to address some of the long-standing problems within BC’s welfare system (although welfare rates remain distressingly low). Seth Klein recently recapped the Ministry’s June 11th announcement, which set out almost 30 proposed changes to the system. More recently, the [...]
Poverty Reduction: Even Alberta joins the fold. When will BC?
April 29th, 2012 · Seth Klein · 1 Comment · Children & youth, Poverty, inequality & welfare
With Alison Redford’s big re-election as Alberta premier last week, Alberta will now join the ranks of provinces with a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. This will leave BC and Saskatchewan as the only jurisdictions in Canada without a provincial or territorial plan. The Alberta plan may prove to be the most ambitious to date. On [...]
Local living wage employer wins best employer award
February 29th, 2012 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare
Hats off to Eclipse Awards, a local small business that was one of the first to seek certification as an official Living Wage Employer. At an awards ceremony last night, Eclipse won the Best Employer award from Small Business BC. Their status as a living wage employer played an important role. Here’s a news release [...]
Tags: child poverty·living wage
How to Destroy a Good Poverty Line
February 17th, 2012 · Seth Klein · 1 Comment · Housing & homelessness, Poverty, inequality & welfare
[The following piece was authored by Michael Goldberg, Steve Kerstetter and Seth Klein] More than a decade ago, the federal and provincial governments started work on a new poverty line – the Market Basket Measure (MBM). After decades of distracting and divisive debates about poverty lines, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada crafted a methodology [...]
Tags: child poverty·poverty
Congratulations to Jagrup Brar: Time to raise welfare rates
February 3rd, 2012 · Seth Klein · 1 Comment · Poverty, inequality & welfare
On Tuesday, BC MLA Jagrup Brar wrapped up his month living on a basic welfare income of $610. He has returned to his family and a comfortable home. But we owe him great thanks. And kudos as well to the folks at Raise the Rates, who issued the challenge that MLAs try living on welfare [...]
Tags: child poverty·poverty·welfare
Living Wage Policy: Why Municipal Governments should lead the way
October 25th, 2011 · Seth Klein · Comments Off · Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare
By Michael McCarthy Flynn and Seth Klein The Living Wage for Families Campaign, along with 54 organizations representing over 300,000 British Columbians, recently issued an Open Letter calling on all municipal election candidates to help low-income families in their cities by passing a Living Wage policy if they are elected (available here). Many families are [...]
NDP propose BC Poverty Reduction Act
June 2nd, 2011 · Seth Klein · 3 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare
Today in the BC Legislature, the Official Opposition (MLA Shane Simpson) introduced a private member’s Bill proposing a BC Poverty Reduction Act. That Act, were it to be enacted, would see the government develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, and legislate specific targets and timelines to reduce the breadth and depth of poverty within one [...]
