B.C. has highest child poverty rate in Canada: report

British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate inCanada, with one in five childrenconsidered statistically poor, says areport that calls for quick action to alleviate a worseningsituation in the province.

• Read the 2013 Child Poverty Report Card
• CBC Reality Check | B.C.'s child poverty rate
• Poverty in Canada has 'child's face,' UN report says

The report by the child and youth advocacy group First Call said B.C.'s child poverty rate is 18.6 per cent compared to the nationalrate of 13.3 per cent. Manitoba's rate, the second-highest in thecountry, stands at 17.3 per cent.

AdrienneMontani, First Call's provincialco-ordinator, said B.C. stands out as having done the least among all provinces tobring down child and family poverty through government supports andprograms.

"Concerted government action in the form of a comprehensivepoverty reduction plan for the province is long overdue," said Montaniin a statement.

The authors of the 2013 Child Poverty Report Card used the mostrecent economic data available from Statistics Canada to issue their"dismal" findings for British Columbia.

"The child poverty rate rose from 14.3 per cent in 2010 to 18.6per cent in 2011," said the report, whichused the agency'slow-income cutoffs before tax as a measure of poverty.

"On this measure, one in five B.C. children were poor thehighest rate of any province," it continues.

"The number of poor children in B.C. was 153,000 enough children to fill the [Vancouver]Canucks'stadium over eight times," it said in reference to Rogers Arena,which has 19,000 seats.

First Call's report card makes 16 recommendations, includingincreasing and indexing the B.C. minimum wage and welfare rates andadopting a $10-a-day child care program to cut the child povertyrate to seven per cent within the next seven years.

"First Call's overarching recommendation for B.C. is for government to adopt a comprehensive poverty reduction plan withlegislated targets and timelines and a cabinet minister with theauthority and responsibility to ensure government is achieving itstargets on time," the report said.

It recommended raising B.C.'s minimum wage to $12 per hour fromthe current $10.25 an hour. It also recommended indexing futureannual minimum wage increases to cost of living increases.

One in two single-parent children in poverty

Female single-parent families appear to be hit the hardest by therise in child poverty, Montani added.

According to the report, there was a dramatic increase in the poverty rate for children living in families headed byfemale single parents, with a rise to 49.8 per cent in 2011, up from21.5 per cent a year earlier.

"We were pretty shocked by this statistic. The only thing we canfind so far that actually corroborates it is that the median marketincome for female lone-parent families dropped between 2010 and 2011from $32,000 a year to $21,500 a year for B.C.."

Every other province saw median income increases for femalesingle-parent families, Montani said. The report also recommended bringing welfare rates up to the poverty line, especially in urban areas such as Vancouver.

"In 2011, a B.C. two-parent family with two children aged 10 and15 on income assistance received a total income of $22,005," thereport said.

"That's a whopping $21,287 below the Statistics Canada povertyline for a family of four in a large urban area like MetroVancouver."

The report stated a single parent on welfare with one childreceived $17,404, which is $11,602 below the poverty line. It alsocited B.C. government numbers that said there were 37,777 childrenin families on income assistance in 2011.

Government urged to review policies

Montani said the report does not include cost estimates toimplement the poverty reduction plans, but she urged the governmentto review its tax and investment policies.

"Generally, we need a fairer taxation system, first of all,"she said. "Government has been giving away tax revenue by loweringtax rates, both for individuals but also for profitablecorporations.

"There's always choices in government infinding moneyfor this and that and we know that this kind of investment inchildren's health and well-being will start to reduce those healthcare costs everybody's freaking about."

Last year, First Call challenged Premier Christy Clark'sgovernment to devote as much energy to reducing child poverty as itwas to creating jobs.

Children and Family Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux saidthen that B.C.'s plan to create jobs in the mining and natural gassectors is a key weapon in the government's goal to fight childpoverty.

Cadieux said that since 2003, B.C.'s child poverty rate declinedby 45 per cent, and the current Statistics Canada numbers, whencalculated to include after-tax income, put the province's childpoverty rate at 10.5 per cent.

First Call's report for 2011 puts B.C.'s child poverty rate calculated to include after-tax income at 11.3 per cent, tied withManitoba for the worst in Canada.

Read the 2013 Child Poverty Report Card online