Poverty Reduction Strategy Sets Goals of 25% to 50%

Mar 18, 2019 | 12:45 PM

BC’s Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction says the goal is to reduce overall poverty by 25%, and child poverty by 50%, over the next five years.

Shane Simpson has introduced the NDP’s poverty reduction strategy, called Together BC, which he says will be done within a framework of accountability and transparency.

“Together, we can build a fairer province by bringing down barriers and giving people the services and supports they need to break out of the cycle of poverty,” says Simpson. “TogetherBC is our roadmap for a better British Columbia, where everyone, regardless of their background or income, is treated with dignity and has access to opportunity.”

Simpson says the initiative will be anchored by a number of key initiatives including the new B.C. Child Opportunity Benefit and Childcare BC, as well as other actions that will increase household incomes.

The most recent numbers show over a half million people live n poverty in BC, with about 100-thousand of those being children.

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Using a 2016 baseline, the strategy aims to lift 140,000 people out of poverty, including 50,000 children. Further poverty reduction goals will be established as these targets are met.

“For too long, too many people in British Columbia have been left out and left behind,” says Mable Elmore, Parliamentary Secretary for Poverty Reduction. “With TogetherBC, we’re tackling the discrimination and stigma that keep people from reaching their full potential so we can build a province we can all be proud of – one that’s more inclusive and more affordable for everyone.”

The program will have six priority areas: affordable housing, supports for families, children and youth, expanding access to education and training, more opportunities for people, improving income supports, and investing in social inclusion.

The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition says the province’s plan to deal with poverty is a strong start, but there are still gaps that need to be filled.

The group says the NDP is providing a comprehensive framework to tackle the issue including housing, child care, education and employment.

The coalition says areas that still need to be addressed include better access to good food for families, more investments in affordable transportation, and improved income security, including assistance rates.

“These gaps urgently need to be filled moving forward, and those next steps are missing here,” says Trish Garner, Community Organizer. “While the Child Opportunity Benefit will come in Fall 2020, and make a significant difference for children and families in poverty, we don’t have a sense of other concrete pieces of the plan over its lifetime over the next 5 years. Increasing income assistance rates far beyond the recent $50 announcement is critical, and tied to that, we must re-implement vacancy control to ensure those increases are going to the people we want to benefit. This is an issue of human rights for those people in the deepest poverty in B.C.”

A Poverty Reduction Advisory Committee has been appointed to advise the minister on matters relating to poverty reduction and prevention. This advisory committee includes advocates, experts, Indigenous peoples and people with lived experience from around the province.

The province says British Columbia has the second-highest overall poverty rate in Canada, and about 40% of people living below the poverty line are working.

Children who live in single-parent families are more than three times more likely to live in poverty than children in two-parent families.

by Corey Fischer