Practical solutions needed for child poverty
The Daily News (Nanaimo)
27 Nov 2007
Opinion

The child poverty rate continues to soar in Nanaimo, despite many social programs designed to provide funding.

The Campaign 2000 report, released on Monday, found that there are as many poor children in Canada today as there were in 1989, when a House of Commons vote unanimously resolved to end child poverty.

The national child poverty rate stands at 11.7%, according to the annual report, titled It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation.

Here in B.C., the rate is 15.2%, the worst in the country.

"It's embarrassing," said Adrienne Montani, the provincial co-ordinator of First Call, a coalition of child and youth advocacy groups in B.C.

"And it just really shows a lack of will, because we know what to do about this."

Montani is right that these numbers are shocking.

But poor children don't exist in a vacuum.

Although it's easy to get politicians and aid organizations to jump on the bandwagon and help hungry children, the problem is much bigger than this.

Poor children come from poor families. It may be more compelling to hear about children who don't have enough to eat or won't get any presents at Christmas, but the reality is that it is their parents or guardians who make these kids poor.

There are many reasons poverty continues to exist, despite all the money that is thrown at social programs.

Lack of education, drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness are three social problems that go hand in hand with poverty.

We also can't ignore the fact that aboriginal people are more likely to live in low-income households.

In fact, recent census data showed that aboriginal people were more than twice as likely to live below the poverty line as non-aboriginal people.

This is largely due to the lasting legacy of residential schools, along with increased rates of alcohol and drug addiction and mental illness.

As advocates of personal responsibility point out, the B.C. economy is booming and it has never been easier to find work.

But working people can also be poor. In fact, 41% of all low-income children live in families where there is at least one person with a full-time, all-year-job, the Campaign 2000 report suggests.

It's impossible to separate the low-income people who could find work and refuse to do it, from those with a legitimate disability or circumstances that keeps them poverty-stricken.

We have enough money to help all the people living below the poverty line and we have a duty to do just that.

Since 1989, our economy has increased by 50%, so we have enough money to help all the people living below the poverty line.

As NDP Leader Carole James pointed out, "Not everybody is benefiting from our economy."

Increasing child-care funding, disability benefits and minimum wage, developing educational programs and funding grants, building low-income housing and creating comprehensive rehabilitation programs for drug and alcohol addicts are all practical ways taxpayers' money can make a difference to our child poverty rate. With our booming economy, it's the least we can do.