Vancouver Sun

By Mab Oloman

Re: Liberals give their take on child poverty in B.C, July 15

Minister Stephanie Cadieux’s response to Daphne Brahman’s piece last week on the B.C. child poverty data implies among other things, that the provincial government will make child care more affordable. How? Cadieux cites a single mother with one child under the age of six being provided with up to $5,514 a year in part due to the introduction of the BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit. However, she neglects to mention that the mother is only eligible for that amount if her annual income is $25,000 or less; that the $55 per month BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit ($660 annually) is not effective until April 1, 2015; and that it makes up only 11 per cent of the $5,514, the remainder coming from federal child-related benefits. Neither does the minister explain how a single parent earning $25,000 annually is going to pay for child care which can cost up to $24,000 annually.