FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CANADA MISSES THE MARK IN THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY
Canada's child poverty rate hit a 17-year high in 1996 during the
United Nations International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, the
National Council of Welfare said in its latest Poverty Profile.
"Five years after the 1990-1991 recession, it seemed reasonable to
expect that poor people would share in the return to prosperity," the
report said. "Instead, we found the poverty rate had inched up every
year. In the depths of the recession, the rates were 14.6 percent in
1990 and 16 percent in 1991. By 1996, the poverty rate was up to 17.6
percent, and child poverty had reached a 17-year peak."
Particularly disturbing were higher poverty rates for families headed
by people under age 65. The 1996 poverty rate for all types of families
of all ages was 14.8 percent. The poverty rate for married couples
under 65 with children under 18 was 11.9 percent, and the rate for
couples under 65 without children was 10.3 percent. At the same time,
the rate for the other major group of non-elderly families,
single-parent mothers under 65 with children under 18, had risen to 61.4
percent.
Rising poverty rates among families meant rising poverty rates for
children. The child poverty rate in 1996 rose to 20.9 percent, and the
estimated number of poor children jumped to 1,481,000.
One reason the plight of many poor Canadians has worsened is the meagre
opportunities in the low-wage part of the economy. The number of
"working poor" Canadians who get 50 percent or more of their total
incomes from earnings has grown in recent years, but the ranks of the
poor overall have grown even faster.
The other emerging trend of great concern to the National Council of
Welfare is the decline in the income support provided by government
programs, especially welfare and unemployment insurance.
For 30 years, the federal government shared the costs of welfare with
the provinces and territories under the terms of the Canada Assistance
Plan. On April 1, 1996, CAP was replaced by the Canada Health and
Social Transfer. The federal government's support for welfare, social
services, medicare and post-secondary education dropped from $29.7
billion in the 1995-1996 fiscal year to $26.9 billion in the 1996-1997
fiscal year.
"Welfare, the program that supports the poorest of the poor, was
particularly hard hit by the change," the report said.
"Even before the cuts to transfer payments, many provincial and
territorial governments reduced their welfare programs, often in concert
with other deficit-reduction measures. As a result, the incomes of most
welfare recipients in Canada were reduced, sometimes dramatically. Cuts
to the eligibility requirements and the benefit rates of unemployment
insurance also targeted people who were already down on their luck."
The impact of these cuts on poor people was hard. The total incomes of
the poorest 20 percent of Canadians dropped significantly from 1995, at
the same time that the richest 20 percent got richer. Statistics Canada
concluded that this occurred because of a combination of lower earnings,
and the cuts to transfer payments from governments.
Winning the war on poverty is not an unrealistic goal. Statistics
Canada estimates that the cost of bringing all poor people out of
poverty in 1996 would have been $17.8 billion. That's not an outrageous
amount of money in a country where the federal, provincial and
territorial governments spent $386 billion in 1996 and where the value
of all the goods and services produced was $820 billion.
"Even though we missed the mark for the International Year for the
Eradication of Poverty, there is a second chance for the fight against
poverty in Canada," said Armand Brun of Shediac, New Brunswick, the
Council's vice-chairperson.
In 1989, the House of Commons resolved unanimously to eliminate child
poverty by 2000.
"If we're going to take these commitments seriously, we have to see
real progress on child and family poverty," said Mr. Brun. "It's
unrealistic to think we can wipe out child poverty by 2000, but we have
to turn the tide."
"Now that we have eliminated the federal deficit, the government can
support the programs we need to live up to our commitment to children
and their families," said Mr. Brun. "We are calling on the federal
government to dedicate the next budget to reducing child poverty."
Poverty Profile 1996 is the latest in a series of annual reports by the
National Council of Welfare based on factual material collected by
Statistics Canada. It includes many statistics for 1996 and poverty
trends dating to 1980.
The National Council of Welfare is a citizens' advisory body to the
Minister of Human Resources Development.
______________________________
For further information or to arrange an interview, telephone
National Council of Welfare
1010 Somerset Street West, 2nd Floor
Ottawa K1A 0J9
(613) 957-2961
May 11, 1998
--
Senior Researcher and Policy Advisor/
Conseillère principale en politiques et recherche
National Council of Welfare/Conseil national du bien-être social
Government of Canada/Gouvernement du Canada
1010, rue Somerset Street West/ouest, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0J9
phone (613) 957-0679, fax/télécopieur (613) 957-0680
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