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National Council of Welfare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 10, 2003

  CLAWBACKS KEEP FAMILIES ON WELFARE

 IN DEEP POVERTY

Welfare incomes across Canada in 2002 were only a fraction of average incomes
and the poverty line, said the National Council of Welfare in a report released
today.

Welfare incomes for single people were worth as little as 15 percent of the
average income and only 20 percent of the poverty line.

"It is almost unfathomable that a person can be expected to live on as little as
 $3,298 a year in St. John



's, or even $6,461 a year in Vancouver," said John
Murphy
of Canning, Nova Scotia, the chair of the Council.

Families on welfare fared only slightly better. In Alberta, the income of a
single parent was worth only 27 percent of the average income and just 48
percent of the
poverty line. The income of a two-parent family in Ontario was worth just 20
percent of the average income of families the same size. In Quebec, the welfare
income
of a couple with two children reached only 49 percent of the poverty line.

"This is a disappointing situation, particularly more than four years after the
federal government made a massive infusion of cash to low-income families
through the
National Child Benefit. The Council was particularly disappointed to note that
this occurred as overwhelming evidence emerged that underlined the importance of
early child development."

The Council's new report notes that families on welfare now receive a larger
share of their income from the federal government ? but less from their
provincial and
territorial governments. Since the National Child Benefit began in 1998, all
provinces and territories reduced their payments to families on welfare either
by clawing
back part of the National Child Benefit, or by allowing inflation to erode their
 share. The federal government, on the other hand, made larger and larger
payments to
low-income families with children. The recent federal budget committed even more
 increases to the program.

When Ottawa, the provinces and territories negotiated the National Child
Benefit, the federal government allowed provincial and territorial governments
to claw
back part of the money that goes to families that rely on welfare. Only
Newfoundland and New Brunswick resisted the temptation to take the money from
those
children who were unlucky enough to have parents whose incomes came from
welfare, not from jobs. Nova Scotia, Quebec and Manitoba have since reduced the
amounts they claw back. The National Council of Welfare has been a vocal
opponent of this practice.

"Circumstances would be a lot less difficult for families if governments stopped
 clawing back the federal child benefit," said Mr. Murphy. "The Council believes
 that
welfare programs should provide good incentives to work, but it makes no sense
to take money from the poorest of the poor. There is simply no fat to cut in the
budgets of people who are forced to rely on welfare."

"The Council believes that a far more constructive approach to getting people
off welfare would be to provide real incentives to work. The most obvious
incentive
for parents on welfare is the provision of high-quality affordable child care.
It is overwhelmingly clear to the Council that the provision of child care is
the very first
step in making it possible for a parent on welfare to complete an education or
training program, and then find and keep a job."

"The federal government's new child care program is exactly the kind of
incentive the Council believes we should provide," said Mr. Murphy. "I was very
pleased to
see the program in the recent federal budget, and to learn of the agreement
Minister Stewart recently concluded with the provinces and territories. We need
a
national system of child care with high standards, and that is what we are now
putting in place."

The report also noted that the welfare incomes of people with disabilities are
in a slow decline. While people with disabilities were spared the direct cuts
many
provinces imposed in the last decade, their incomes have not kept pace with
inflation.

Welfare Incomes is a regular publication that tracks the annual welfare incomes
of four typical households in each province and territory: a single employable
person,
a single person with a disability, a single parent with one child aged two, and
a couple with two children aged 10 and 15. The National Council of Welfare has
published similar estimates since 1986.

The National Council of Welfare is a citizens' advisory group to the Minister of
 Human Resources Development.



For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:

 National Council of Welfare
 9th Floor, 112 Kent Street
  Ottawa K1A 0J9

 Telephone: (613) 957-2961
Website:www.ncwcnbes.net



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