End Child Poverty in Canada
July 13, 2005
The 2005 Ontario budget contains few measures that will make a difference in the lives of the approximately 373,000 Ontario children living below the poverty line. Children’s advocates were pleased to see new provincial funding for post secondary education and housing, but disappointed with the lack of progress on ending the clawback and ensuring adequate social assistance benefits.
Campaign 2000 is very disappointed that, despite strong public pressure, the Ontario Government has decided not to end its clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from the cheques of families on Social Assistance. The Government will, however, pass on the next federal increase which means families will now receive about $200/child annually.
“This is a missed opportunity. Children growing up in poverty deserve the full National Child Benefit Supplement now – approximately $1,700/child per year. We know this money would reduce hunger and food bank use. It’s unacceptable that federal funds designed to reduce poverty continue to be deducted from the cheques of poor families and used to fund other Ontario government programs,” said Jacquie Maund, Ontario Coordinator of Campaign 2000.
The National Child Benefit is part of the Canada Child Tax Benefit. It was designed to help prevent and reduce child poverty. “The Canada Child Tax Benefit is an effective instrument to help reduce child poverty. But provincial clawbacks mean the National Child Benefit portion is not working as intended. Campaign 2000 has consistently called for a better designed system with more funding. We would like to see a consolidated Child Benefit with a maximum benefit of $4,900 per child,” said Laurel Rothman, National Coordinator of Campaign 2000.
About 200,000 of Ontario’s poor children rely on social assistance. Last year, after 11 years of cuts, social assistance benefits were finally increased by 3%.
“We are quite disappointed that there was not another increase so that social assistance benefits would at least keep up with the rising cost of rent, food, clothing, and so on,” noted Colin Hughes of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. “The Ontario Government can and must do better: its own study by MPP Deb Matthews found that people on social assistance are already so poor they have little time or energy left for anything beyond surviving. Low rates are a barrier to seeking employment.”
With regard to the working poor, the 2005 Budget unfortunately makes no further commitment to increase the minimum wage. “We know that 46% of poor children in Ontario have parents who work throughout the year. They need a ‘living wage’ of $10/hour to move them above the poverty line,” said Laurel Rothman, National Coordinator for Campaign 2000.
Campaign 2000 is pleased to see the commitment to long term funding for colleges and universities, an extension of the tuition freeze, and increased financial aid for low and middle income students. “Our research has shown that the high cost of tuition is the most frequent reason why low-income students do not participate in post-secondary education. We hope to see the Ontario Government extend the tuition freeze beyond 2006 as a way to increase access to the educational credentials which are key to opportunity and well-being in a knowledge-based economy,” said Jacquie Maund.
Commenting on the housing announcement, Debbie Douglas, Executive Director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, stated:
“We are pleased to finally see some new provincial funds for affordable housing after so many years of waiting. The $30 million allocation is a beginning on the expenditures which are needed to address the affordable housing crisis in Ontario. We also need to reinstate rent controls. Child and family poverty rates are 39% for immigrant communities, who often face unequal access to employment opportunities and lack of recognition for their credentials and experience. Families are often living three or four to a house in order to cope.”
“A national public system of early learning and child care is one of the key pathways out of poverty - Campaign 2000 is pleased that the Ontario Government has signed a bilateral agreement with the federal government. We hope the Federal Budget passes to make this agreement a reality. We want to ensure that all of the funding goes directly to the services for children to achieve our recommendation that all expansion is in the non-profit sector, while maintaining existing services in the commercial sector. We are also waiting to see the $300 million investment in licensed child care that was promised by the Liberals during the Ontario election,” concluded Laurel Rothman.
Campaign 2000 is a diverse coalition of over 90 national, provincial and community organizations dedicated to eliminating child and family poverty in Canada. OCASI is a member of Campaign 2000.