Coalition calls for B.C. to adopt comprehensive poverty reduction plan, legislated targets and timelines and a cabinet minister with authority and responsibility to ensure targets are achieved on time

The 2015 BC Child Poverty Report Card, released November 24, 2015 by First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition shows BC’s continued failure to develop a comprehensive poverty reduction plan with targets and timelines has left the province’s child poverty rate unacceptably high.

The severity and longevity of the crisis of child poverty in this wealthy province calls for a much more urgent response from the provincial government. — First Call BC

More than half of children living in lone-parent families were living in poverty

At 20.4% (1 in 5 children), BC’s child poverty rate is higher than the Canadian average of 19% and represents 167, 810 children — enough children to fill the entire Disneyland theme park four times. Just over half, or 85,540 of these children, lived in Metro Vancouver. The report uses statistics from 2013, the most recent data available.

More than half (50.3%) of all children living in lone-parent families, the vast majority of them single mother families, were living in poverty in 2013, compared to 13% for children in couple families.

The data in this report is evidence of a continuing child poverty crisis that reaches into every corner of the province. With a new federal government intent on developing a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy that is to be aligned with provincial strategies, it’s time for BC to join the other provinces and develop a provincial poverty reduction plan. — Cheryl Mixon, chairperson of the First Call Coalition

Other key findings in the report

Income inequality has continued to grow in BC, with a 78.3% increase in median income for the top 0.1%
versus a 0.3% increase for the bottom 99% between 1982 and 2012.

• Between 2012 and 2013, BC’s child poverty rate decreased very slightly from 20.6% to 20.4%. However, since the passage of the 1989 House of Commons all-party resolution to eliminate child poverty in Canada by the year 2000, BC’s child poverty rate has risen from 15.5% to 20.4% in 2013.
• Poor families in BC are very poor, with all poor family types living on average over $10,000 below the poverty line.
• One third of BC’s single parent families are in core housing need (housing that is in poor repair, unaffordable or crowded) and nearly a quarter of these parents experience moderate to severe food insecurity.
• 23 out of BC’s 29 regional districts had at least 1,000 children living in poverty. The highest rate was found in the Central Coast Regional District, with a 50.6% child poverty rate.
• 78% of all Metro Vancouver census tracts had at least 100 poor children living in them, and half of all Metro Vancouver municipalities had census tracts with child poverty rates of 20% or higher.
• Poverty rates for young children under 6 were higher than overall child poverty rates in 22 out of 24 urban areas outside of Metro Vancouver, some as high as 37% (Port Alberni and Duncan).
• Income inequality has continued to grow in BC, with a 78.3% increase in median income for the top 0.1% versus a 0.3% increase for the bottom 99% between 1982 and 2012.

Children of recent immigrants and refugees, Aboriginal children, children of female lone-parent families,
children in racialized families and children with a disability, are at greater risk of living in poverty

Recommendations

First Call’s overarching recommendation is for the provincial government to adopt a comprehensive poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines and a cabinet minister with the authority and responsibility to ensure government is achieving its targets on time. The coalition recommends that the plan contain a goal to reduce BC’s child poverty rate to 7% or lower by 2020.

Recognizing that children of recent immigrants and refugees, Aboriginal children, children of female lone-parent families, children in racialized families and children with a disability, are at greater risk of living in poverty, the coalition recommends that efforts should also be targeted to achieve major reductions in poverty levels for these populations.

We speak with Adrienne Montani, provincial coordinator for First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.

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audio | 2015 Child Poverty Report @FirstCallBC @PovReductionBC #childpoverty #nanaimo https://t.co/Gl3IGq95yq pic.twitter.com/4uV1Oog0Jh

— People First Radio (@peoplefirstrad) December 3, 2015