Inside this issue:
Add Your Voice to the New Call for a Poverty Reduction Plan by the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
Women in the Canadian Economy by Iglika Ivanova
Assistance Recipients on Government Hit List by Keith Reynolds
Climate Inaction and BC’s Budget by Marc Lee
A Closer Look at Low Wages in BC by Steve Kerstetter
Gender equality
HALIFAX, NS - Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Cards have recorded changes in child poverty since 1999. Each annual card has tracked progress on the government of Canada’s 1989 promise to end child poverty. The report released today, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Nova Scotia, is the tenth card, and is being released on the 20th anniversary of Canada’s promise to eliminate poverty by the year 2000.
The idea of a guaranteed income (sometimes referred to as guaranteed annual income or GAI) has a long and respectable history in Canadian political and economic thought. Recently, in the face of both wide criticism of the Canadian income security system and growing recognition of the unacceptability of current poverty rates, there has been a resurgence in calls for implementation of a Canadian guaranteed income. But the idea is a controversial one; progressive activists, academics, and politicians disagree about the desirability and the practicality of a guaranteed income.
Only 9% of all Canadians were considered poor in 2007. It was the lowest rate of low income in 30 years. But that was before the recession hit last fall. We don’t yet have income data for 2008, but, if past experience is anything to go by, poverty rates will go up again as declining economic growth shows up in the numbers. And that’s bad news for women whose high rates of poverty remain unaddressed.
This report by researcher Monica Townson draws attention to Canada's shockingly high rates of women's poverty and offers a strong critique of recent federal government policies that have helped contribute to it. The report reveals almost one-quarter (24%) of Canadian women raising children on their own and 14% of single older women are poor.
OTTAWA—Canada still has shockingly high rates of women’s poverty but the recession seems to have sidelined anti-poverty policies, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Women’s Poverty and the Recession reveals even after taking into account government transfers and tax credits, almost one-quarter(24%) of Canadian women raising children on their own and 14% of single older women are poor, compared to 9 % of children.
(Ottawa)—On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights a new international report concludes that budgets profoundly impact the attainment of human rights, and the attainment of human rights impacts the quality of our lives.
This conclusion flows from dozens of case studies from around the world, available today with the Canadian launch of the 2008 edition of the annual international Social Watch report.