Child and Family Poverty Position Pape
Taking Action on Child and
Family Poverty
Health Officer’s Council (HOC) of BC
Advocacy Position Paper
Prepared by the HOC Child and Family Poverty Working Group – September 2009
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A. Background
Members of the Health Officers’ Council (HOC) are public health physicians practicing in British
Columbia. Council members include, among others, medical health officers with provincial
health authorities, physicians with the BC Centre for Disease Control and Prevention,
physicians in public health research and teaching, and physicians with the First Nations and
Inuit Health Branch. For more than fifty years, members of HOC have, individually and
collectively, played key roles in every major public health achievement in British Columbia.
In 2006, HOC identified child and family poverty as a priority health issue on which to develop
policy positions and an advocacy strategy. HOC recognizes the significant impact of child and
family poverty on the health of our populations. As such, HOC will implement an advocacy
strategy to support the reduction of child and family poverty. Responsibility for implementing
this advocacy strategy was assigned to the HOC Child and Family Poverty Working Group.
The goals of the Working Group are to:
1) Propose a spectrum of high-level policy approaches around child poverty through
ecommendations and evidence from partners and cu
ent policy reports.
2) Support education opportunities for HOC members to engage members in ongoing
discussion around the opportunities for policy change to reduce child and family poverty.
3) Facilitate the implementation of an HOC advocacy strategy including the identification of
HOC champions, the development of partnerships and the selection of and commitment
to advocacy activities.
The following paper represents an official HOC position on what is needed to reduce child and
family poverty in British Columbia. The paper is also a resource to assist HOC in defining
advocacy activities. HOC recognizes that the solutions to child poverty are multi-faceted and
equire intersectoral action. As a key group of public health representatives, HOC has an
opportunity to contribute to the provincial mandate by providing leadership and advocacy
around the issue of child poverty. HOC hopes that this position paper will enrich and inform the
conversations taking place in our province on health. HOC is committed to working with the
government collaboratively on the issues articulated in this document.
Taking Action on Child and Family Poverty - September 2009 1
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B. About the Issue: Child Poverty
Research has demonstrated the strong co
elation between early childhood experiences and
health status/social well-being in adulthood. Safeguarding the health of our children and
population through strategic investment in child development is both a moral obligation and a
critical tool for sustaining our health care system. Evidence continues to indicate that British
Columbia has failed to adequately address poverty. Each year, First Call BC Child and Youth
Advocacy Coalition collates and releases a report card of key child/family poverty statistics.
This data from Statistics Canada shows that British Columbia has had the highest rate of child
poverty of any province in Canada for 5 years in a row. More than 1 in 5 of our province’s
children live in poverty with evidence indicating that the depth of poverty is also increasing1.
The clear impact of child poverty on health status and long-term outcomes are a call for the
health sector to take leadership on this issue. Both the National Longitudinal Survey on
Children and Youth and the National Population Health Survey found that child outcomes
worsen for 31 survey indicators as family income falls 2. Researchers note that:
Children and youth who live in poverty are at greater risk in terms of health, do less well
in school, have to cope with a dangerous or unhealthy physical environment, less likely
to graduate from secondary school and then as adults, suffering from job insecurity,
underemployment, poor working conditions and so on3 4.
Taking Action on Child and Family Poverty - September 2009 2
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Poor health has also been identified as a mechanism for the intergenerational
transmission of poverty. Children born into poor families have poorer health as children,
eceive lower investments in human capital, and have poorer health as adults 5.
In 1989, the House of Commons unanimously passed a resolution to eliminate child poverty by
the year XXXXXXXXXXHowever, the number of children living in poverty has only increased with 1.2
million Canadian children live in poverty. Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education
movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons
esolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year XXXXXXXXXXFurther, Canada has participated in
the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which outline, among other
ights, the right for every child to develop to the fullest and to participate fully in family, cultural
and social life through standards in health care, education, and legal, civil and social services.
Resources:
Family Security in Insecure Times: The Case for a Poverty Reduction Strategy in Canada
www.campaign2000.ca
c/C2000%20Report%20Card%20FINAL%20Nov%2010th08.pdf
Canadian Council on Social Development: Measuring Low Income in Canada
www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2007/upp/measuring_low_income.htm
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
http:
www.unicef.org/crc/index_30160.html
How is Poverty Measured in Canada?
Canada does not have an official ‘poverty line’ but poverty is generally measured using the
Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs) from Statistics Canada. The LICOs represent levels of
income where people spend disproportionate amounts of money for food, shelter, and
clothing. LICOs vary with the size of the household and the size of the community.
Taking Action on Child and Family Poverty - September 2009 3
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C. Policy Options
Creating a Child Poverty Reduction Strategy for British Columbia and
Setting Targets
Advocate for a comprehensive child poverty reduction strategy in British
Columbia. This strategy should be driven by an intergovernmental/interministerial
approach and include specific and meaningful targets for child poverty reduction.
• Create an interministerial body to develop a provincial poverty reduction strategy.
This body would work closely with other levels of government and additional
stakeholders (i.e., NGO’s, academic institutions, advocacy groups, BC
Representative for Children and Youth) to implement and monitor the strategy.
ActNow BC provides an example for interministerial cooperation around an issue.
• The governments of Quebec, Newfoundland, Ontario and Nova Scotia have passed
poverty reduction platforms that outline provincial targets and strategies for poverty
eduction. Other provinces are considering poverty reduction platforms.
• Evidence indicates that there are benefits in the selection of health targets. These
include the coordination of program resources and an opportunity to monitor and
evaluate specific indicators. Several provinces have both created targets and
strategies for poverty reduction.
Provincial Poverty Reduction Strategies from Across Canada:
Reducing Poverty: An Action Plan for Newfoundland and La
ador
http:
www.hrle.gov.nl.ca/hrle/poverty/poverty-reduction-strategy.pdf
Nova Scotia Poverty Reduction Strategy
http:
www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/legc/index.htm
Quebec Government Action Plan to Combat Poverty
http:
www.napo-onap.ca/en/napo/forwardbackwards.htm
Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy
www.fin.gov.on.ca/english
udget/ontariobudgets/2009/sectors/povertysh.html
All Aboard: Manitoba’s Poverty Reduction Strategy:
http:
www.gov.mb.ca/fs/misc/pubs/all_aboard_report.pdf
New Brunswick: Developing a Poverty Reduction Strategy
www.gnb.ca/0017/Promos/0001/index-e.asp
Taking Action on Child and Family Poverty - September 2009 4
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Enhancing Surveillance and Accountability
Advocate for ongoing support for the annual Child Poverty Report card and for
the BC provincial government to set targets related to the reduction of child
poverty.
• First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition works with community partners to
elease an annual child poverty report card. The report card provides comparative
data on child poverty rates, as well as a series of policy recommendations (Increase in
Minimum Wage, Realistic Welfare Rates, Housing Strategy). There is an ongoing
opportunity for HOC to partner with First Call in the production of this annual report
card.
• The HOC will advocate for sustained funding for the report card, assist in the
dissemination of the report card and assist in the expansion of the report card to
include community level information across the province (e.g., LHA, Community).
• THE BC Government has set a target of reducing those children who aren’t ‘ready to
learn’ to 15% (from 29.6%) by 2015/2016. The Human Early Learning Partnership
has outlined policy recommendations for income support strategies and child
care/early learning to achieve this goal 6.
• Recognize the differential rates of poverty among different groups. For example, a
single parent female is at a higher risk of living in poverty.
Higher Risk Populations in Canada
(See: www.campaign2000.ca) Statistics Canada, 2003
All Children 18.4%
With disability 27.7%
Aboriginal Identify 40.0%
All Immigrants 40.4%
Lone mother families 52.5%
Surveillance Resources:
First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition: BC Child Poverty Report Card
2008
www.firstcallbc.org/pdfs/economicequality/3-reportcard-b&w.pdf
Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) - University of British Columbia
www.help.ubc.ca
BC Poverty Data Maps
In collaboration with PHSA, income statistics from the 2006 Census were mapped at a
census area and health authority level. This report is available online at:
http:
www.phabc.org/files/headlines/BC_Local_Level_Poverty_Data.pdf
Taking Action on Child and Family Poverty - September 2009 5
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Enhancing Income Assistance Strategies
Advocate for changes to provincial income assistance programs to ensure
support during times of need and transition periods. The ultimate goal is to
ensure that no family in British Columbia lives in poverty.
• Even the most effective strategy of investing in human capital will miss the social
needs of vulnerable groups who face a concentration of disadvantages that limit their
participation in the mainstream of society. Such people need supports of diverse
forms, including financial assistance, to live with dignity4.
• The BC Assistance program has become primarily a program for individuals who are
not expected to work and include people with disabilities, people with persistent
multiple ba
iers, persons temporarily excused from work and children in the home of
a relative. BC Income Assistance benefits are not generous by the standards of other
provinces and there seems little justification for the continued erosion of benefits in
eal terms 4.
• Government can make a difference. A comprehensive income assistance policy
platform is recommended by researchers and advocacy groups to reduce child
poverty. Key pieces include:
o Raise welfare rates by 50% and index to the cost of living.
o Roll back ‘employable’ age for receiving income assistance. Parents whose
youngest child is age 3 or over were recently re-categorized as employable.
Previously these parents were “temporarily excused” from job seeking and
participating in mandatory training until their youngest child was age 7.
o Raise the minimum wage to at least $10/hour and end the $6/hour training wage.
o Ensuring access to school programs by removing financial ba
iers (i.e., the
elimination of school program fees to families with low incomes).
o Increase access to social housing.
Canada’s Increasing Income Gap
Canada’s gap between rich and poor is growing. After 20 years of continuous decline, both inequality
and poverty rates have increased rapidly in the past 10 years, now reaching levels above the OECD
average. Inequality of household earnings in Canada has increased more significantly over the last
decade than in any other country included in the study save for Germany. (OECD – 2008: Growing
Unequal?: Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries)
Income Assistance Policy Resources: