Welfare payments called 'morally disgraceful'
Last Updated Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:19:43 EDT
CBC News
After successive federal surpluses, it's a moral outrage that Canadians on welfare are receiving some of the lowest payments in 20 years, says a national poverty group.
A report released Thursday by the National Council on Welfare suggests the 1.7 million Canadians on welfare in 2005 saw some of the lowest welfare rates since 1986.
"We have forgotten about these people and I think it's morally disgraceful," said John Murphy, the chair of the council.
Called Welfare Incomes 2005, the report tallies total welfare income, including both provincial and federal welfare benefits, child benefits and tax credits.
It measures the welfare rates in four different scenarios: a single employable person, a person with a disability, a single parent with one child, and a couple with two children aged 10 and 15.
New Brunswick and oil-rich Alberta had some of the lowest rates among all the provinces, while Newfoundland and Labrador delivered some of the highest rates, suggests the report.
Of the four scenarios measured, the highest and lowest welfare rates among the provinces were:
Single employable person:
* N.B. - $3,427
* N.L. - $8,198
Person with disability:
* Alta. - $7,851
* Ont. - $12,057
Lone parent with one child:
* Alta. - $12,326
* N.L. - $16,181
Couple with two children:
* N.B. - $17,567
* P.E.I. - $21,213
The income figures reported from the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut were higher than those in the provinces. However, the cost of living is higher in northern regions, so any benefit of bigger cheques is lost.
A single person on welfare in N.W.T. receives $13,610 per year, while a couple with two children in Nunavut receive $36,325.
Alberta rates halved
Welfare rates have dropped, sometimes in half, over the past two decades, suggests the report.
In 1986, a single person on welfare in Alberta received roughly $10,000 a year. By 2005, that amount had dropped to $5,050 per year.
Critics say the provincial government, which is on track to run 13 straight years of surplus budgets, should be ashamed.
"We've got people sleeping in our parking lots. We've got people sleeping in dumpsters," said Edmonton social aid worker Ellie Gibson.
"There was someone run over in a parking lot in Edmonton [Tuesday] night."
Poverty advocacy groups say the report proves Canada should have a national poverty strategy.
"Across Canada we're enjoying record-breaking surpluses and record-breaking welfare rates," said Sherry Tingley, executive director of the National Anti-Poverty Organization.
"I'm extremely puzzled and it's not a very good strategy for us as a country."
National standards needed
Brenda Murphy, who works with Saint John's Urban Core Support Network, said Ottawa should play a role in social assistance, which is run by the provinces.
"I think it makes sense to have national standards so it doesn't matter what province people live in, that there's some equality there," said Murphy.
Advocacy groups say some of the Conservative government's new initiatives help the poor, including the cut to the GST and the universal child care benefit.
But they say the poor in Canada really need a guaranteed annual income that will cover the basics of food, clothing and a place to live.
The report bases its findings on Statistics Canada's Low-Income Cut-Offs (LICOs), which is not an official poverty line but a measure of the number of Canadians who spend 20 per cent more of their gross income on food, shelter and clothing than the average Canadian.
Critics of the LICO call it an arbitrary measurement, saying it doesn't accurately measure poverty.
4 comments:
This is something we have all known and most importantly, Our elected officials have known for years. New Brunswicker is the lowest welfare rate in Canada. Well tell us sommething we didn't already know, like what is going to be accomplished to bring the rate up so people can afford a decent place to live instead of having to resort to living on the street, or the local shelter. Furthermore there are many of in this Province who have workable skills and they could be working and making a living to be self-supporting instead of being a drain on the taxpayers dollar. but the system likes to keep people on the system because it gives them an extra bonus in their pay checque. the Welfare rate for long term disabled should be no more then $1000.00, and no less then $800.00 per month. and the Regular rate Should be at least $650.00 per month. this would go a long way in helping afford a decent standard of living. also the welfare rate should be raised according to the cost of living. One final point I would like to make if I may, is that those who have employable skills and want to work, should be given the help they need to become gainfully employed and make a decent living. the reason you have so much unrest and problems with addiction is because the aspirations of these people are not being met and the doors of the society of which they are supposed to be a part of are closing or even slamming in their faces.so they turn to drugs, alcohol and other avenues to kill the pain of deppression. I know that there are other issues in the lives of Our fellow Citizens, and they need to be addressed, I have only related to one. Society says that Human self worth is based on the size of a person's bank account or status in life and this is one of the causes of the problem we now face, and the Welfare workers don't know what to do about this issue because most of them have probably never had to live in that situation.
Why aren't some of the candidates in the upcoming election, especially Lord and Graham, being questioned concerning the welfare rate?
I would like to know why these Candidates who are running for re-election are not not being questioned about the discracefully low welfare rates. Maybe is is because no one wants to hear about the poor. I don't know. but one things is probably for sure, not long from now the poor and marginalized will soon be majority voters, and they will carry the vote,and then watch out for these self-seeking opportunists who are just their to line their own pockets. furthermore, Premier Lord and his Wife received an Honorary degree from St. Thomas University at the 2-005 convocation Ceremony, for the work they are doing. but what is his government doing on behalf of the Poor and marginalized residents of this province or for that matter, what are any of them doing on the poor's behalf funding shelters and filtering the cash back through system where the poor are barely existing. I think that it is about time that we all stand up and say enought is enough. instead of blaming and accusations and all of the crapp that has been going on for the last few years. It is time to make this a voting issue. and also our traditional moral and family values should be a voting issue as well. Afterall, the reason we are in such a mess is because we have allowed the traditional values of decency and morality to be flushed down the toilet.
Maybe Charles can remind everyone that, when a candidate knocks at YOUR door, to ask them about welfare rates and what they would do about them if elected.
I agree, there are lots of people on social assistance who have workable skills that could be out there working and would like to be. There used to be programs to get people on social assistance working. What happened to these programs?
One problem with welfare is that they cut it off completely when a person becomes employed ... so they lose prescription coverage & subsidized childcare benefits ... a further kick in the pants. I think it should be a staged reduction in benefits until that person is at least over the poverty level in what they are earning. There would be more of a chance of that person being able to support themselves for a longer time. I would love to see a "leader" come up with some thoughtful ideas on how to get people back to work.
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