One in seven B.C. kids lives in poverty, child advocacy coalition says
Georgia Straight
By Carlito Pablo
November 24, 2010

One in seven children or about 121,000 kids in British Columbia were found to be living in poverty in 2008.

The poverty rate among B.C. children below the age of six during that year was 19.6 percent. This means that one in five in this age category didn’t have enough to lead decent lives.

These and other figures will be unveiled today (November 24) by First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition when the group releases its latest report card at a press conference at the office of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation at 550 West 6th Avenue in Vancouver, starting at 9:30 a.m.

Below is the text of a press release issued by First Call on this issue:

A TIME FOR LEADERSHIP IN FIGHTING CHILD POVERTY

Children need the political leaders of British Columbia to step forward and commit themselves to fighting poverty, BC Campaign 2000 said today in its latest annual report on child poverty.

“Child and family poverty simply won’t disappear on its own,” said Adrienne Montani, provincial coordinator of First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition. “Political leaders in other provinces understand this, but in BC we are still waiting for courageous leadership on this issue.”

The child poverty rate in British Columbia dropped to 14.5 percent in 2008, according to the latest figures published by Statistics Canada. The number of poor children was 121,000 - or about one of every seven BC children. Alarmingly, the poverty rate for children under age six was 19.6%, or one in five young children.

Montani said 2008 could have the lowest poverty figures of the decade. The recession that started in late 2008 is almost certain to produce higher poverty figures in 2009 and 2010. Indicators such as increases in 2009 and 2010 in food bank use and families on income assistance signal this anticipated rise.

Other key findings in the report include:

• The risk of poverty for female lone-parent families is 31%, two and a half times greater than for children in 2-parent families, but the majority of poor children (67%) live in two-parent families.
• The vast majority of BC’s poor children live in families with some income from paid work, with over one third having at least one adult working full-time, full-year.
• Inequity is growing. The gap between the incomes of the richest 10% and poorest 10% of families with children grew from a ratio of 11 to 1 in 2007 to 14 to 1 in 2008. Families in the three lowest income groups (deciles) saw an actual decline in their incomes between 1989 and 2008.

Seven provinces and territories have either enacted or committed themselves to enacting anti-poverty strategies, and at least one other province is said to be ready to join the majority. Both the House of Commons and the Senate have recently issued reports urging Ottawa to commit to an anti-poverty strategy of its own. In November 2009, the House of Commons passed a unanimous resolution to develop an immediate plan to eliminate poverty in Canada for all….

The Report Card calls for commitment to reduce the before-tax child poverty rate in BC to seven percent or less by 2020, and outlines a range of federal and provincial public policy changes and investments to reach this target, including increases in the minimum wage, welfare rates and child tax benefits; enhanced employment insurance benefits and eligibility; universal access to high-quality, affordable child care; and improved access to post-secondary education for low-income students, among others…

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