Child Poverty Report Card

June 18, 2010 - BC Child Poverty Rate Still Worst in Canada Despite Continued Decline

2009 BC Child Poverty Report Card
2009 National Child Poverty Report Card
Older Report Cards

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the unanimous vote in the House of Commons to end child poverty by the year 2000. Read our ideas for ways that you can take action and make use of the resources below.

Download the poster
Sample press release for organizations
Sample letter to the editor of your local paper
Sample letter to MLA (find out who your MLA is and how to contact them here)

The above resources can be copied and pasted into your e-mail or a word processor for you to modify and add your contact information.

News

June 2010: Update on the refugee transportation loans campaign and responses from BC Members of Parliament. Sample letter to send to your MP. From 2009: Letter to BC Members of Parliament on refugee transportation loans. Backgrounder and sample letter: Campaign to repeal refugee transporation loan requirement. Find out more from the Canadian Council for Refugees.

May 2010: New Westminster has become the first living wage municipality in Canada! Find out more at www.livingwageforfamilies.ca.

November 2009 - First Call has signed on as a support of Dignity for All, the campaign for a poverty free Canada. Find out more at www.dignityforall.ca.

July 2009 - letter to the Premier about the August 2009 Council of the Federation and the issue of child and family poverty.

July 2009 - ongoing correspondence with the Minister of Housing and Social Development on the minimum wage and the living wage can be found here - scroll down to correspondence.

May 2009 - web site launched for the Living Wage for Families Campaign: www.livingwageforfamilies.ca

May 5, 2008 - Press Release on Child Poverty 2006 data - BC's Child Poverty Rate Still Worst in Canada for Fifth Consecutive Year.

Increased Economic Equality

Child poverty is a regrettable and painful reality in British Columbia and every other province in Canada. The poverty rates in BC have moved up and down over the years, but we have been unable as a society to break the bonds of poverty for significant numbers of children and their parents.

Children remain poor because their parents remain poor. That may sound like stating the obvious, but it underlines a fundamental paradox in the fight against child poverty. We all say we value children and want to give children the best possible start in life, yet we ignore the needs of parents who are struggling to do their best amid the many demands of parenting in today's busy world.

Working for a Living Wage 2010
This summary report updates the 2008 living wage calculation for Metro Vancouver. To find out more about the Living Wage for Families Campaign, visit www.livingwageforfamilies.ca.

BC Campaign 2000 Child Poverty Report Card (2009)
This annual report provides detailed statistics on child poverty in BC, and shows that this province has had the highest rate of child poverty in Canada for six years in a row.

Students Are Not to Blame: Understanding the Structural Causes of Family Poverty (2009)
Report from the BC Teachers' Federation on Poverty and Education.

The Time is Now: A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC (2008)
Report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Family Poverty Data for BC by City and Family Type
Statistics Canada data from the 2006 census.

Brief to the Senate on Urban Child Poverty (2008)
In February 2008, First Call Chair Michael Goldberg presentated to the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology on the topic of urban child poverty.  This briefing is an overview of topics including measuring poverty; child poverty rates; and the interaction between market income, social security benefits, taxation and statutory deductions, and income tested social programs.

Leveling the Playing Field for Children: A Community Action Toolkit (2007)
This Community Action Toolkit provides information and resources on how to level the economic playing field for children and youth, including advocacy work around issues such as early learning and child care, child benefits, affordable housing, and parental leave. Open the bookmarks function to use the index of hyperlinks when navigating the document (in Adobe go to View>Navigation Panels>Bookmarks).

The factsheets from this toolkit are also available in Spanish and Vietnamese.

Child and Youth Development and Income Inequality: A Review of Selected Literature (2007
As part of our Leveling the Playing Field Project we have compiled a review of the relationship between income poverty, inequality and child outcomes in Canada, with a particular focus on studies completed since 1998.

Child Poverty Status Report (2006)
This report is the most detailed report on child and family poverty in British Columbia ever published by First Call. It includes not only province-wide data on poverty, but also data for 25 of the larger population centres in all regions of the province.