First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition

First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
FIRST CALL’S 20TH CHILD POVERTY REPORT CARD First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card An overview of the webinar: Intention is to familiarize you with the report, both its data and its rec’s. Webinar December 1, 2016 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card www.still1in5.ca
FIRST CALL’S 20TH CHILD POVERTY REPORT CARD This is a collaborative effort! Thanks to SPARC BC, and our national partners in C2000. C2000…, other provinces … at campaign2000.ca Also financial support from VF and UWLM, as well as contributions from several of our union coalition members (name), Vancity and Vancity Community Fdn. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

INTRODUCTION: ARE WE REALLY A CARING SOCIETY?
Call to action This report is a call to action Evidence in this report illustrates the child poverty crisis in BC, and offers recommendations Governments make choices about what they spend and what they collect. Current choices are increasing income inequality, and therefore sustaining high poverty levels The call for a more comprehensive PR plan for BC is echoed widely now. Media are asking – why are they so unwilling to move on this? We need to translate the concern of British Columbians into the political will to act on recommended solutions. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FIRST CALL’S 20TH CHILD POVERTY REPORT CARD There are lots of personal stories in this report, shared with us to put a face to the impacts of the issues and policies discussed in the data and recommendations. There are also other illustrations of the issues or the recommendations we’re making that we won’t have time to go through today, but we urge you to read and use. We have created a special website for the RC: still1in5.ca (linked from the FC site) where you can find the full report, or jump straight to supporting the recommendations with a letter to the Premier, as well as look at the new maps of child poverty rates by various geographical areas. You will be able to watch the speeches from the news conference on First Call’s Youtube channel, and there’s a link to a powerful spoken word poem by former youth in care Meredith Graham. These slides and a recording of this webinar will be available from the website too, along with social media shareables. Please circulate these links to your networks, write your own MLA as well as the premier in support of all the rec’s or the ones most important to you. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 1: 1 IN 5 BC CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY FS #1: 19.8% poor -- 1in 5. Higher than the national average (18.5%) * Under 6 rate (20.1%) even higher and higher than the national average. . The fact that child poverty rates are higher than overall poverty rates in Canada and in every province points to the need for systemic policy changes that better support families in their child-rearing years. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 1: 1 IN 5 BC CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY Infographic to give people a sense of what 163,260 children means. Please use! 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

APPENDIX 1: DATA SOURCE AND MEASURES OF POVERTY In Appendix 1, we discuss the low income measure used in the report. Explain; This chart shows the poverty lines for different sizes and types of families after taxes. These are the poverty lines used throughout the report, except when we’re comparing to minimum wages – then we use the before tax measure. Data sources and LIM-AT -Taxfiler data is very solid, better scope than survey data, especially for on-reserve families. LIM (50% below median household income) is national calculation, with limitations -- no reflection of local costs; therefore a conservative measure here. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 1: 1 IN 5 BC CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY In provincial comparisons, BC ranks 5th worst. Better than last year, when only MB was worse than us. If we add in Terr’s (see nat’l rept card at C2000) - YK lower, NWT & NV higher rates. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 1: 1 IN 5 BC CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY SOME BC CHILDREN ARE OVER-REPRESENTED IN POVERTY STATISTICS Several groups over-represented in this child poverty data: Children in LP families, new immigrants, Indigenous children, racialized children, children affected by disabilities (child or parent). E.g., using NHS data, looking at Surrey, the poverty rate for indigenous children was 45%, compared to a rate of 19% for non-indigenous children. The same pattern shows up in Metro Vancouver and other areas. The long form census restoration should give us more recent data in future. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 2: BC’S CHILD POVERTY RATES OVER TIME FS#2: Over time 1989 and 2014 the BC rate went from 15.5% to 19.8%. (25 years) 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 2: BC’S CHILD POVERTY RATES OVER TIME FS #2 – Over the 14-yr period : shows a slight decrease in the CP rate from 25.3% in 2000 to 19.8% or from 1 in 4 to 1 in 5. These are both very high numbers and very slow movement over 14 years, during several of which there were provincial budget surpluses. The change from year to year ( ) decrease of 0.6% in numbers: a drop of 4,550 At this pace (4,140 average annual drop in # of poor children), it would take until 2053 to eliminate CP in BC. BC’s child poverty rate remained consistently higher than the Canadian average during this period. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 3: BC CHILD POVERTY BY FAMILY TYPE FS #3: child poverty in BC includes all family types. Children in LPFs make up only 19.5% of BC’s child population, but they make up almost half of the poor children. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 3: BC CHILD POVERTY BY FAMILY TYPE So not surprisingly, being a child in a lone-parent family means having a much higher chance of living in poverty than being a child in a couple family. A 2 in 1 chance in fact. In 2014, a staggering 50.3% of BC children in LPF’s were poor, compared to 12.4% of children in couple families. This is where we see the 0.6% drop from 2013 – 2P families – no change for children in LP families. BC’s pitiful 4% decrease for LPs over these 14 yrs was the 3rd smallest decrease of all 10 provinces. In this same period several provinces w PR plans made much better progress: NL: down 20%; PQ and NS both down 16% The numbers are: 80,720 poor children in LP famialies and 82,540 in 2P families. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 3: BC CHILD POVERTY BY FAMILY TYPE FS #3: Over 80% of LPs were female-led. Median income difference: $37,140 for lone mothers, 65% of the $57,370 for lone fathers. Significant gender issues at work here. Brings systemic issues like unaffordable/unavailable child care and lower wages, more PT work, more MW work for women to the fore. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 4: DEPTH OF FAMILY POVERTY Living at the poverty line is a challenge, but many poor families actually live far below the poverty line. This graph in FS #4 illustrates how far below the poverty line the median total after-tax family incomes were for 4 different low-income family types in 2014. In 2014, the poverty gap (distance below the poverty line) for all family types was over $10,000 per year. You can see the depth of poverty for each family type in the dark part of the columns in the graph. [For example, a lone parent with one child had a median total after-tax income of only $14,590 per year, leaving them $10,364 below the $24,954 poverty line for this family size. For a couple with one child, the poverty line was $30,301. However, their median total after-tax income of $18,340 per year left them $11,961 below the poverty line. ] 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 4: DEPTH OF FAMILY POVERTY - IMPACTS FS #5: Depth of Poverty Dramatically higher rates of food insecurity reported among LPFs, with parents/mothers going hungry most often. 2016: Food bank users who were children – 32% of 100,086 users = 33,315 children, an increase in use of 3% (all ages) between We know the consequences of this kind of stress on parenting, health… 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 5: CHILD POVERTY AND WORKING PARENTS FS #6: The majority of poor children live with parent in paid work – either FTFY or PT… We look at the minimum wage. 2014 min wage: $10.25 – not enough to raise a family out of poverty Single parent, one child would be $9,500 below the poverty line (BT - $28,192). Two parents with two children, both working full time, full year at this minimum wage would have earned $37,310, leaving them almost $3,000 below the poverty line (BT $40,274). Annual indexing a low wage creates very little catch up for these lowest paid workers. In this report we’re calling for a $15/hr MW ASAP, as a start to move closer to a level that would be a living wage for families. You can see that to really make work pay enough to lift families out of poverty we need living wages. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 5: CHILD POVERTY AND WORKING PARENTS FS #6: You can see that families need living wages, which our LW Campaign calculates annually based on the actual costs of living in different regions and a model family of 2P, 2C. – to get them above the poverty line. Here are the LW rates calculated in 2014 for 6 regions. And the significant percentage of 2P families with children in each region who are not making a living wage. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 5: CHILD POVERTY AND WORKING PARENTS FS #6: Family incomes have not kept pace with rising families expenses. Explain infographic looking at 7 year cost increases against median income increases. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 6: FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN ON WELFARE In FS #6 we look at families on income assistance – a picture of deep poverty. BC’s income assistance rates for both people on disability benefits and those on “expected to work” benefits, have not increased since – Other than bus pass give and take fiasco for PWD. Despite the rising cost of living over the last 9 years, total welfare incomes have been steadily decreasing in buying power, and in 2014 were lower than in 2013. This graph shows the total welfare incomes of 2 family types compared to the poverty line and the growing gap between the two. A lone parent with one child on income assistance would have receive a total income of $17,277 (including all tax benefits, credits, etc.) – leaving them $7,677 below the poverty line. They lost $581 in buying power over those 9 years. A 2-parent family with 2 children with a total income of $21,924, would be $13,724 below the poverty line, a loss of $1,404 in buying power for this family. These children represent about 1/5 of the poor children in any one year (only 33,536 on average in 2014). Over 80% of the children on income assistance were in LPFs, mostly led by women. 68% of these children’s parents were on disability assistance, had a medical condition that kept them from working, had persistent multiple barriers to work or were temporarily excused from working. This graph also shows that the federal government’s share of welfare incomes has more than doubled over the 25 years from 1989 to 2014, mostly due to federal child benefits, while the provincial contribution has declined significantly. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 6: FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN ON WELFARE This report card does note the recent welfare policy changes that have made life a little fairer and easier for some families. Responding to recommendations made in previous First Call CP report cards: elimination of child support clawback, Orphan’s benefit clawback, Workers Comp Orphan’s Ben, and most recently the elimination of the clawback of maternity and parental leave EI benefits. And the new SPEI which allows single parents to stay on benefits while they take an approved 12 month post-secondary program, which covers their child care, tuition (up to $7,500) and transportation costs. Also covers their child care costs for one additional year if they move into employment. We’re calling on govt. to expand the types of post-sec programs LPs can enroll in and still qualify – e.g. beyond 12 months. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 7: AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE INTO POVERTY Support for Fostering Change Campaign with youth stories and art work in this year’s RC. See still1in5.ca website. Almost half of youth end up on IA within a few months of their 19th birthday. 40% of BC’s homeless youth report having been in govt. care at some point. Indigenous youth overrepresented. Recommendations for extending support to age 25. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 8: CHILD POVERTY ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA The data reveals that 22 out of 29 RD’s had at least 1000 children living in poverty. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 8: CHILD POVERTY ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA FS#8: Mapping data - thanks to our partner SPARCBC. Maps best seen on the website, where you can enlarge them to get a better view of your local area. The report card highlights those Regional District’s with the highest and lowest rates. (Darker areas mean higher poverty rates), Map also shows increases and decreases between 2013 and 2014. Considerable variation. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 8: CHILD POVERTY ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA Also on website, this map of CP rates and numbers in urban areas where 85% of poor children live. (Rural aggregate rate is 24% for those outside urban areas) Duncan, Pt Alberni and Prince Rupert had highest rates at 31% and 30% Hopefully useful to more people / communities around the province. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 8: CHILD POVERTY IN METRO VANCOUVER 51% of BC’s poor children lived in Metro Vancouver in 2013 – that’s 82,960 children. This map shows the whole region by census tracts, shaded to show the higher and lower child poverty rates. There are 8 additional maps on the website for individual MV municipalities, showing poverty rates by census tracts, as well as information about the overall poverty rate for each municipality. Also graphs ranking the MV municipalities by rate and number. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 9: GROWING INCOME INEQUALITY FOR FAMILIES In the past 20 years, income inequality in Canada has increased and continues to grow. The richest group of Canadians has increased its share of total national income, while the poorest and middle-income groups have been losing ground. We are concerned about this trend because international research shows that high rates of income inequality negatively affect both rich and poor people. Child well-being is lower in more unequal countries.(Equality Trust website) The graph shows the total income of economic families (includes families w/out children). Total income refers to all income before taxes, including wages and salaries, earnings from self-employment, and earnings from investments. It also includes government benefits from the federal and provincial governments, such as the Canada Child Tax Benefit, GST credits, Employment Insurance and welfare. It shows that the top five deciles (or half) collected 3/4 of all income received by BC families, leaving only 25% for the other half. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 9: GROWING INCOME INEQUALITY FOR FAMILIES Here’s the breakdown of the deciles of families income so you can see the average income for each 10% and see the gap between the richest and poorest. Remember this is only income, not wealth, where the gap would be greater. 49% growth over 15 years for top 10%, vs. 8% growth for bottom 10%. Top to bottom decile ratio is 13 to 1 for BC, most unequal of all provinces. Lowest average income for the bottom 10% 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 10: IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT HELP In FS #10 Without government transfers, using only family market income, British Columbia’s child poverty rate was 27% in It came down to 19.8% after government transfers, a reduction of 27%. Meaning 60,890 children were lifted out of poverty thanks to government transfers. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

FACTSHEET 10: IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT HELP In FS #10 This graph shows the rate of reduction in child poverty in 2014 in Canada and individual provinces as a result of government transfers. 6 provinces did better than BC, and BC’s rate of reduction was below the Canadian average of 35%. BC could do much better. There’s an explanation of what counts as “government help” in relation to poverty on page 35. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

COMPARISON OF PROVINCIAL CHILD BENEFIT POLICIES Province Child's age Annual benefit amount (1 child) Lifetime investment (1 child) Full benefit income threshold Benefit phased out at Benefit indexed? PQ 0-18 $2,392 $43,056 $35,000 Y ON $1,336 $24,048 $20,400 AB $1,100 $19,800 $25,500 $41,220 NS $625 $11,250 $18,000 $26,000 N MB $420 $7,560 $15,000 $20,435 NL $377 $6,786 $17,397 $24,849 NB $250 $4,500 $20,000 $30,000 BC 0-6 $660 $3,960 $100,000 $150,000 Changes since 2014: (Graph not in report) BC now has a provincial Early Childhood Tax Benefit – but it is much less generous than AB, ON and PQ’s. Our recommendation is to double it and extend the ages covered like other provinces. Coupled with new higher federal child tax benefit, we should see real impacts in future years. Additional info: Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit gives $763/yr for 1st child to working parent earning at least $ Combined ACB and AFETC max for 1 child = $1863 x 18 yrs = $33,534 lifetime investment. Quebec also provides $839/yr for lone parents, plus $2,268/yr for child w/disability NL: provides $720/yr Mother Baby Nutrition Supp (child <1 yr) NB provides $250/yr Working Income Supplement for incomes between $3750 and $10K/yr, phased out at higher incomes. In MB people on social assistance and FN on reserve are not eligible for this benefit; BC families on assistance are eligible and benefit is exempt income; AB families on assistance are eligible for the benefit. MB: provides Prenatal Benefit of $18.41 (max) (excluding women in prison) SK & PEI have no child benefits. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

RECOMMENDATIONS: WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN “Adopt a provincial poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines with a goal to reduce BC’s child poverty rate to 7% or lower by 2020” This is our overarching recommendation. Echoed by Leg Budget Committee report for 4rd yr in a row. Also, 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, efforts should also be targeted to achieve major reductions in poverty levels for these populations. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

RECOMMENDATIONS Raise minimum wage to $15 per hour, index it annually and apply it to all workers. Ensure that public sector employers pay a living wage to all direct and contract employees. Significantly increase income and disability assistance rates and index them annually. Expand post-secondary program options eligible for support under the Single Parent Employment Initiative and, in the absence of enhanced student grants, allow all those on income assistance to attend post-secondary programs. Redesign the BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit to cover children under 18 and increase the maximum to $1,320 per child per year. The 21 recommendations in the RC are the pieces of the policy puzzle that, taken together would go a long way to reducing child and family poverty. They are aimed at both the P and F governments and they are labeled that way to assist people when talking to P or F reps. The still1in5.ca website a letter you can send to the BC Premier, and copy your local MLA. You can also seek resolutions of support from your local city council, or school board, or chamber of commerce or faith groups, for all or some of the recommendations. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

RECOMMENDATIONS 6. Ensure the new Canada Child Benefit reduces the child poverty rate by 50% in 5 years and index immediately. 7. Increase funding for First Nations child welfare, education and health services, and develop a long-term plan to eradicate poverty among Indigenous families. 8. Adopt and begin implementing the $10 a Day Child Care Plan. 9. Enhance maternity and parental leave benefit value and include all parents. 10. Ensure all youth aging out of care can count on consistent financial support and long-term, supportive adult relationships until the age of 25. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

RECOMMENDATIONS Provide housing and other supports to queer and transgender youth at risk of homelessness and social exclusion due to the loss of family support. Allow grandparents on CPP Disability who are raising their grandchildren to continue to receive the children’s benefit after they turn 65. Intensify efforts to help immigrants and refugees with enhanced employment assistance, language training and improving employment standards protections and enforcement. extend the waivers of transportation loans for Syrian refugees to all new refugees and cancel all outstanding transportation loan debt. Improve access to post-secondary education for low-income students and lower student debt levels beyond the federal measures announced in July Policy options include reduced tuition fees, more grants instead of loans and interest-free loans. 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

RECOMMENDATIONS 16. Restore the Education Guarantee to reinstate tuition-free adult basic education. 17. Enhance Employment Insurance to expand access, duration and levels of benefits. 18. Increase efforts to provide housing for low-income people by building more social and affordable rental housing, maintaining existing affordable housing stock, and by enhancing rental subsidies and other income support to reduce housing insecurity for low-income families. 19. Introduce universal coverage for all Canadians for prescription drugs, dental care and eye care as essential aspects of health care. 20. Create an independent commission on tax reform to make recommendations to make the tax system fairer and to reduce income inequality. . 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

KEEP IN TOUCH! Support our calls to action at & still1in5.ca Facebook: FirstCallBC Follow us on us at 2016 BC Child Poverty Report Card

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