Taking Stock of Poverty in Southern BC
Canada Without Poverty tours province to unite advocacy groups, finds housing problems rampant.
TheTyee.ca
By Josh Massey
July 21, 2010

…. the knowledge she gained from her travels reinforced her conviction that Parliament must pass Bill C-545, which aims to end child poverty, as well as Bill C-304, which frames a long overdue housing strategy for Canada….

Currently the child poverty rate is 9.1 per cent and over 50 per cent of those children are in working families….

The lack of affordable housing, low welfare rates and child poverty are major concerns. B.C. doesn't have a poverty reduction strategy. Groups are fighting to be heard but nobody is listening.

"We see many people who are paying 60 to 80 per cent of their income on rent. And if families are making just over $21,000 dollars, they aren't eligible for social assistance programs. The Canada Child Tax Benefit provides help as does the Universal Child Care Benefit for each child under six, which is about $100 per month, but child daycare costs are around $800 per month or more and rent might be another $800, so it's not much help, especially for a single parent. We are trying to get the Universal Child Care Benefit raised….

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