More money over a longer timeframe for families, a $15 minimum wage and higher income and disability rates are among Shane Simpson’s plans to cut child poverty rates in half by 2024.
The Vancouver-Hastings MLA released details Monday around the province’s first poverty reduction plan, much of which was hinted at in February’s budget or in funding promises going back to 2017.
The plan centres around targets to reduce overall poverty by 25 per cent, and child poverty by 50 per cent, over the next five years.
Slated to take effect next year, the child opportunity benefit will include funding for kids up to the age of 18 instead of the current age threshold of six. Families with one child will receive up to $1,600 per year, compared to the current rate of $660. Those with two children will receive up to $2,600 and those with three children will receive up to $3,400 a year.
“This a cornerstone of our commitment to increase affordability and lift 50,000 children from poverty over the next five years,” said Simpson, the provincial minister of social development and poverty reduction.
Simpson also doubled down on the province’s $10-million investment in “rent banks,” which will be operated by community organizations and benefit at-risk renters through the provision of low-or no-interest loans.
“Everywhere we’ve been over the last 20 months, in every community, the primary concern we heard was the lack of safe, affordable housing,” Simpson said.
Statistics Canada numbers from 2016 indicated that 557,000 people in B.C. were living in poverty, 99,000 of them children. Under the poverty reduction plan, those numbers will be reduced by 140,000 adults and 50,000 kids. Before Monday, B.C. was the lone province in Canada without a concerted, provincial poverty reduction plan.
Noting that 40 per cent of B.C.’s workers live under the poverty line, Simpson renewed the NDP’s calls to get minimum wage to $15 and beyond by 2021.
The Vancouver-Hastings MLA also reiterated increases to disability and income assistance — what was $610 monthly for close to a decade increased by $100 monthly in 2017, and again by between $50 and $100, depending on household size, as of last month’s budget announcement.
“These pieces have long been recognized by the [B.C. Poverty Reduction Coalition] as critical for a strong foundation to a poverty reduction plan, so it’s good to have them reflected here,” coalition member Trish Garner said in a news release. “To tackle the breadth of poverty in B.C., we need a comprehensive framework and we do see that here with the inclusion of housing, child care, education, employment, health, transportation, access to justice and food security.”
@JohnKurucz
