What
Has Happened to Government's Strategy on Child Poverty?
Campaign 2000 Press Release
February 4, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 4, 2004
What Has Happened to Government's Strategy on Child Poverty?
Children's advocates expressed deep concern over the absence of government interest in the ongoing battle against child poverty, following the Throne Speech and the Prime Minister's response.
"We are disappointed by the government's silence on child and family poverty," said Laurel Rothman, Campaign 2000's National Coordinator. "In fact, recent initiatives for vulnerable children have been cautious, modest in scope and not sufficient to achieve substantial progress. We need to hear that child poverty remains on the government's radar screen and that the new administration is not planning to ease off on further investments," added Rothman.
Researchers point out that no significant gains have been achieved since 1989, the year Parliament resolved to end child poverty. According to Campaign 2000, 15.6% of all children, or more than one million children, remained in poverty in 2001. And more than half of all children living in poverty have parents who are in the paid labour force.
"It would be
a mistake to assume that the current commitment on child benefits is nearly
enough to get the job done," said Michael Goldberg, Research Director
of the Social Planning & Research Council of BC. "The slow success
in reducing child and family poverty is a key lesson on Canada's efforts
over the past decade. We need to see the child tax benefit rise to $4,400
and we have to deal with those provinces who continue to pick the pockets
of families on social assistance if we are to begin to make a real difference
for families and children," added Goldberg.
Advocates acknowledged that the Throne Speech and the Prime Minister's
response sent out some encouraging signals by indicating an interest in
a range of important social areas. These include commitments to child
care, urban Aboriginal needs, assistance to Canadian families with disabilities,
reducing barriers to labour market participation by immigrants, a new
deal for cities, helping the social economy and the voluntary sector,
and a recognition of the need to improve the availability of better jobs.
"The good news is that the government has responded to calls for a national child care strategy by speeding up the previous budget's commitments to early learning and child care," said Martha Friendly of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, University of Toronto. "We hope that this signals a real commitment that starts today and continues beyond the election campaign towards a universal system of quality child care across Canada. Right now, the first test will be in the upcoming budget where we need to see more money and details as to how it will be translated into high quality, accessible and inclusive child care spaces. Let's build the momentum for what should be the most important social policy advance of the decade," added Friendly.
"We are encouraged that the emphasis on Aboriginal circumstances has been linked to urban realities, where more than half of Aboriginal people live. There are complex and difficult challenges that will not make this task simple. But the commitments this week have captured the attention of Aboriginal leaders and their diverse communities which signals a positive step towards cooperation. To be successful we will need leadership and action in the areas of support to cities, the social economy and the voluntary sector," said Wayne Helgason, Vice-President of the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development.
Despite these positive steps, advocates were concerned that the sole mention of poverty in the Throne Speech emphasized "local solutions for local problems" with no explicit recognition of federal roles in child and family benefits. Affordable housing was also mentioned only in the context of the new deal for cities with no indication of plans for follow up on previous efforts under the Affordable Housing Initiative.
"Canadians said loud and clear: government action on child poverty should be a priority on the agenda across the country. Investments in children cannot wait for brighter days especially when inequality in Canada continues to grow amidst prosperous times. The government's concern with not passing on any deficits to our future generations rings hollow when children are going hungry and with no place to call home. This is the social deficit that we hear very little about. We have a responsibility to step up and pay for what is needed - this has to be part of Canada's national debate," said Greg de-Groot Maggetti, of Citizens for Public Justice.
Campaign 2000 proposes a comprehensive approach to family policy which includes an enhanced child benefit of $4,400 for all low, modest, and middle- income families; a universal system of quality, affordable early childhood education and care services which meets the needs of communities across Canada; a stable, affordable housing strategy to assist low and modest income families; as well as a labour market strategy which ensures that parents have access to family friendly jobs with good wages to support their families.
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Campaign 2000 is a diverse coalition of over 85 national, provincial
and community organizations dedicated to eliminating child and family
poverty in Canada. For more information visit our website at www.campaign2000.ca
For more information contact:
- Laurel Rothman,
National Coordinator of Campaign 2000, 416-595-9230/244
- Martha Friendly, Childcare Resource and Research Unit, U of T, 416-978-6895
- Michael Goldberg, Research Director, Social Planning & Research
Council of BC, 604-718-7738
- Greg de-Groot Maggetti, Citizens for Public Justice, 416-979-2443/22
- Wayne Helgason, Executive Director of the Winnipeg Social Planning Council,
204-943-2561
Further Resources on Throne Speech:
Ontario Council
of Agencies Serving South Asians
Response
to Throne Speech
Ontario Coalition
for Better Child Care
"Accelerated" funding
announced in Throne Speech for child care welcome news. The next questions
are: how much and how fast?"
Return to DAWN Ontario index page
Page last updated February 5, 2004