Poverty in Canada
and the
National Child Benefit Supplement (NCB Claw Back

Poverty in Canada

The low-income cutoff (LICO) is still the most used "poverty" indicator.

As a measurement, it is based on the concept that people in poverty live in compromised circumstances (defined as spending a disproportionate amount of their total gross income on food, clothing, and shelter).

Household expenditure surveys conducted by Statistics Canada show that the average family spends 35 per cent of its gross income on food, clothing, and shelter.

A family is considered to be in difficult circumstances if it spends 55 per cent of its income on those three items.

Source: Mapleleafweb.com

 

Which Provinces & Territories claw back & which do not

Provinces & territories with clawbacks
(funds diverted into other programs):

• Prince Edward Island
• Ontario
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Yukon
• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut

Provinces & Territories with no clawbacks:

• Newfoundland and Labrador
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• Manitoba

Quebec is the only province that doesn't participate in the National Child Benefit Supplement.

Source: National Council on Welfare

 

---

 

The Present & Future of Child Poverty

• A 2002 NCB report showed that child poverty was declining in Canada, from a high of 15.8 per cent in 1996 to 11.4 per cent in 2000. Now, for the first time in five years, child poverty is on the rise again.
  
  
• Some 55,000 children who had been living in poverty before the NCB supplement was introduced were no longer in a low-income situation by 2000.
  
  
• By the year 2007-08, the federal government will spend $10 billion to support low-income families with children through the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the NCB Supplement.
  
  
• Benefit levels for a family of four (with two children) should rise from the current maximum of $4,680 to a projected $6,260 by 2007-08.

Sources: The 2002 National Child Benefit Progress Report & Campaign 2000

---

Clawbacks cause child poverty, families charge
by Lindsey Coad, Producer: Jaimie Banks
http://www.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/n1.shtml

Poverty by province
Find out which of Canada's provinces & territories
are most affected by poverty, and which are least affected
requires FlashPlayer

Relevant Links

An Ontario Child Benefit?
http://dawn.thot.net/isac_s-2003.html#5

Child Benefits in Ontario - Q & A's
http://dawn.thot.net/child_benefits_q_a.html

Charter Challenge of the National Child Benefit Supplement
http://dawn.thot.net/cc_clawback.html

Legal Challenge to the NCBS Clawback from
families on social assistance
http://dawn.thot.net/ncbs_clawback_legal_challenge.html

Higher Child Benefits Needed To Counter Persistent Poverty
http://dawn.thot.net/c2000.html

Social Safety News - the OSSN Newsletter
Issue 28 May 2004
http://dawn.thot.net/ossn/may_2004.html

Legal Challenge to the NCBS clawback
Follow this link - too long to post

National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO) Statement on Budget 2005
http://dawn.thot.net/napo_budget2005.html

Presentation to Judy Marsales, MPP &
staff of Ted McMeekin MPP
at the Meeting of the Campaign for Adequate Welfare & Disability Benefits
Presented by Mike Hogeterp and Darlene Burkett
http://dawn.thot.net/cawdb.html

Why the poor are getting poorer
Op/Ed in Toronto Star, by Jacquie Chic & John Fraser, ISAC
http://dawn.thot.net/tstar-op_ed.html

Joanne Bury's Speech to CAW workers at Port Elgin
http://dawn.thot.net/bury1.html

Provincial Party Leaders Respond to Letter
from Ontario’s Religious Leaders
http://dawn.thot.net/isarc1.html

Canadian Social Research Links
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/caselaw.htm

Women & Housing in Canada: Barriers to Equality
Report by CERA - Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation
Women’s Housing Program
http://dawn.thot.net/cera1.html

Challenging Homelessness and Poverty as
Human Rights Violations
http://dawn.thot.net/cera3.html

TAKE ACTION

Sign a Petition on Care2 to End the Clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCB

Background Information
NCBS Backgrounder
The Welfare Wall -- Hiding the Truth about Poverty