1 in 5 kids in B.C. lives in poverty, says report
Group calls for federal and provincial policies to address low incomes, high cost of housing and child care
VANCOUVER — A coalition of child and youth advocates says one in five children in British Columbia lives in poverty, but immigrant kids, off-reserve Indigenous kids and those from visible minority backgrounds are even worse off.
The grim reality of growing up poor is outlined in a report by First Call, which wants public policy initiatives including a commitment to early childhood development and economic equality to give kids a chance to succeed.
The report says the child poverty rate in B.C. in 2015 was 18.3 per cent, representing 153,000 children, half of them living in Metro Vancouver, and that the overall rate is nearly a full percentage point above the national average.
First Call’s provincial co-ordinator, Adrienne Montani, says children from single-parent families experienced poverty at a rate of 48 per cent, more than four times that of kids with two parents.
The report says that in 2015, a single parent working full time for the whole year for minimum wage would have earned only $18,761.
“The statistics on the depth of poverty show poor children in B.C., including those living with parents working full time or part time, are being raised on median annual incomes more than $10,000 below the poverty lines for their respective family sizes,” the report says.
“Families on welfare, the majority of whom have disabilities or other health conditions, struggle to meet their basic needs, and frequently have to rely on food banks and other charitable sources to feed and clothe their children.”
First Call has made 21 recommendations, including a $10-a-day child care plan, increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour and providing affordable housing options to families struggling to pay their bills.
First Call is also urging provincial and federal governments to increase funding for First Nations child welfare, provide more education and community health services, and to work with Indigenous organizations and communities to develop a long-term plan to address poverty.
The coalition has been tracking child and family poverty rates in B.C. for two decades, and its first report also showed that one in five children is poor.
First Call is part of a national network called Campaign 2000, which also issued a report Tuesday on the poverty level of Canadian children living on social assistance.
A new federal housing strategy to be released today is expected to meet most of what Campaign 2000 asks for in its report, including a portable housing benefit paid directly to tenants and an Indigenous housing strategy.
B.C.’s Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction has scheduled community meetings throughout the province starting next week and continuing until March to gather information on a strategy to address poverty.
Steps taken so far by the provincial government include raising welfare rates by $100 per month, restoring bus passes for people on disability assistance and waiving post-secondary tuition for youth from foster care.
The minimum wage in B.C. needs to be raised to $15 an hour by January 2019, the Fair Wages Commission heard Tuesday in Kelowna.
The minimum wage has not kept up with the rising cost of living nor with inflation, said Christine Mettler, Okanagan co-ordinator with the BC Poverty Coalition. Mettler was one of about 10 people who attended a hearing hosted by the commission in Kelowna.
While Mettler believes the minimum wage should be increased as soon as possible, she said the coalition is recommending January 2019 to give employers time to adjust.
“A $15-an-hour wage is just enough to be above the poverty line,” she said. “It’s not a living wage.”
The living wage in Kelowna is about $18 to $19 an hour, she said.
“That means enough to actually live with dignity, to be able to not only afford rent and food, but a few extras, too.”
Currently, the minimum wage in B.C. is $11.35 an hour.
Mettler would like to see the minimum wage increased to the living wage one day.
“That would be ideal, but of course there’s what’s politically feasible at the moment and there’s the ideal, so it’s something we can always strive for, and I think we will indeed be striving for it,” she said.
It is estimated Kelowna has about the 13th highest living wage in the country, she said.
The low-income cutoff in Canada is just over $24,000, and someone working full time at minimum wage in B.C. now makes just over $20,000 a year before taxes, said Mettler.
“We believe no one should be working full time and living in poverty.”
In B.C., 25 per cent of all workers make less than $15 an hour, she said.
“These financial constraints may produce not only economic hardships such as spiralling debt, but also people in poverty are much more likely to suffer from physical, emotional and mentalhealth issues.”
Shelley Sage Ricci, representing Indigenous workers for the BC Federation of Labour, also spoke about the need to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“Workers in B.C. are in desperate need of a significant increase to minimum wage,” she said.
The BC Federation of Labour is suggesting increasing the minimum wage in two steps: first to $14 an hour in 2018, then to $15 an hour by January 2019.
“The riches of our economic prosperity are not being distributed equally,” said Ricci. “While the rich in our province are getting richer, low-income earners are struggling more than ever. There is perhaps no group of workers for which this is more true than B.C.’s Indigenous population.”
The average total income of Indigenous people in Canada is 25 per cent less than that of non-Indigenous people, she said.
“Having a fair minimum wage above the poverty line is one important step our government can take to help address high instances of poverty among our Indigenous population.”
The Fair Wages Commission is travelling across the province, getting feedback about the prospect of increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“I’m hopeful our work will strengthen the economy while serving as a stepping stone towards lifting people out of poverty,” said Marjorie Griffin Cohen, who chairs the commission.