Child poverty report tells us how we can help poorest families

Government policies work, writes Adrienne Montani.

Nadine is a mother of three children, living in the Okanagan. She's a member of the Métis Nation and is currently on maternity leave from a job in the social services sector. In early 2020, she gave birth to her third child. Unfortunately, her marriage ended the following month. Currently, Nadine's ex-husband is unemployed and isn't paying any child support. Nadine supports her family on her maternity benefits, which fall far short of covering the family's expenses. Now on a single income, finding affordable quality child care when it's time for her to return to work is her biggest worry.

In early December, First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition released the 24th annual B.C. Child Poverty Report Card. In 2018, the year this report covers, there were 159,570 children and youth living in poor households, with many living in deep poverty.

Releasing this report in the midst of COVID-19 may seem out of sync with dramatic changes to unemployment rates, temporary closures of child care, and the loss of income many families are struggling with. But the report gives us some insight into child poverty — which families were poor, and where — before the pandemic began. They have also been some of the hardest hit by job losses during the pandemic.

The report finds one in five children in B.C. were living in poverty in 2018 and an increase of more than 7,000 children under the age of six who were poor compared to 2017. This is a significant shift within the larger group of children growing up poor and can help us focus on where government could invest to achieve the greatest good.

Historically, Indigenous children, new immigrant children, kids in visible or racialized minority groups, and those affected by disabilities all have much higher poverty rates than the B.C. average — and 2018 was no different. The poverty rate for children living in lone-parent families was still shamefully high, at 50.4 per cent, compared to 10.2 per cent for children living in couple families. The median income for female lone-parent households was just 68 per cent of the median income for male lone-parent households.

The good news is that some government policies are paying off. Since 2010, the trend line has been going in the right direction, although much too slowly. This trend is largely attributable to improvements in the Canada Child Benefit, providing solid evidence that government benefits are an important part of reducing child poverty. The province, too, has made progress, as the new B.C. Child Opportunity Benefit kicked in this past October. We won't be able to measure the effects of that policy until 2022, but we anticipate it will make a difference.

To lower child poverty in B.C., First Call recommends the provincial government index the B.C. Child Opportunity Benefit to the annual inflation rate and continue to prioritize new child care investments in the 2021 budget and beyond. All workers in B.C. should be covered by the hourly minimum wage and have a legislated right to paid sick leave. For those living in deep poverty on income and disability assistance, the rates must be raised, including increases for families raising a child with disabilities.

While income is important, affordable housing and access to public services play a critical role in reducing poverty, as well. First Call urges the B.C. government to continue increased investments in affordable housing and to tie rent control to the unit to remove the incentive to evict current tenants to raise the rent for new tenants.

We applaud the B.C. government for allowing youth in care to stay in place past their 19th birthday, rather than aging out of care during the pandemic. Lessons can be learned from this period of flexibility about the importance of supporting all young people transitioning out of government care with income programs that meets their basic living costs. This is one of the most effective ways to help youth avoid aging out of care into homelessness.

Nadine's story illustrates how life's events, combined with a lack of adequate income and social supports, can trap families in poverty. Nadine put it this way: “I've now become one of those single mothers who's struggling. I never thought it would happen to me.”