The latest figures available show that in 2006 (Source: First Call):
- BC had the highest child poverty rate in Canada for the fifth year in a row at 21.9%.
- average incomes for both female lone-parent families and two-parent families with children living in poverty fell more than $11,000 below the poverty line.
- over half of BC’s poor children live in families where the adults worked the equivalent of a full-time, full-year job or more.
BC has done the least to reduce child poverty (Source: First Call).
- BC is second to last in having the highest number of families and individuals living below the “low income cut-off” as defined by Statistics Canada.
- BC did the least to reduce child poverty through government transfers.
The depth of poverty is worsening for BC families on income assistance. (Source: National Welfare Council)
- The right to retain a small portion of earned income is denied to all income-assistance recipients (except those on disability).
- BC is the only province to enact this policy.
It’s not just those on income assistance who are living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. (Source: Human Resources and Social Development Canada and First Call)
- In BC, the working poor make up 10.2% of the total workforce, nearly double the national rate of 5.6%.
- The average worker earning an income below the poverty line, actually clocked more hours of work in a year than the average worker earning income above the poverty line.
- The poverty rate in BC, among children in families where one or both parents worked in full-time, year-round, was the highest in the country—10.1% compared to 7.3% for Canada as a whole.
BC has tied with PEI for the lowest minimum wage in the country. (Source: BC Federation of Labour)
- At $8.00 an hour, BC has the lowest minimum wage.
- It has not been increased since the Liberals formed the government in 2001.
When will they learn? May 12