B.C. budget leaves welfare recipients in poverty: report

Welfare rates in British Columbia fall far short of covering daily expenses and the latest provincial budget does nothing to change that, according to a new report by the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C.

The report, entitled "Still Left Behind," compares welfare rates for individuals and families and finds incomes fall far short of the amount needed to pay all the bills.

"People on B.C. income assistance are essentially living in legislated poverty," Derek Gent, president of the council's board of directors, said Wednesday.

Income assistance rates have not kept pace with inflation because meagre increases to rates in the 2007 provincial budget were so small they had no impact, he said.

"Due to provincial income assistance policies, people fall far short of being able to cover their basic living costs," Gent said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The council said that while families with children saw an increase in their ability to handle daily living costs between 2005 and 2007, it was mainly due to federal child benefits, not improvements in B.C. Employment and Assistance rates.

The report says that despite a jump in income assistance rates in 2007, payments cover only a portion of minimum monthly expenses for the following categories:

• 45 per cent for a single adult
• 46 per cent for a childless couple
• 62 per cent for a single parent with a teenager
• 70 per cent for a couple with two children under six
• 72 per cent for a single parent with a three-year-old

The council is calling for a boost in assistance rates to reflect the actual cost of living.

The council urged the B.C. government to create a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, as Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have done.