Resources

1. The Cost of Poverty in BC (CCPA, July 2011)
2. The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty (National Council of Welfare, Autumn 2011)

We have one of the highest child poverty rates in Canada, as approximately 1 in 5 children live in poverty in BC. We are doing a great disservice to our future generations.

Poverty has a profound impact on the health and well being of children and families. When children go to school hungry or poorly nourished, their energy levels, memory, problem-solving skills, creativity, concentration and behaviour are all negatively impacted. As a result, these children may not reach their full physical and social developmental potential.

The under-funding of public education has meant an increase in school fees, such as those now collected for field trips, supplies, sports and arts, and specific course materials. This causes great family stress and children from low-income families often exclude themselves from activities and programs. The role of public education in giving every child an equal chance is seriously undermined by the inequity created by school fees.

Post-secondary education is inaccessible. Tuition fees put such studies out of reach of too many and fear of debt keeps many low-income people away.

Poverty is concentrated in specific populations, such as Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, recent immigrants, refugees and temporary foreign workers (including farm workers and live-in caregivers), and lone-mother households, so children within these families are far more likely to live in poverty.

Let’s get to the heart of the problem. The best returns on investments are the ones contributing to the well-being of children, as dollars spent in the early years create savings in future spending on health, social and justice services.

Resources

1. 2018 BC Child Poverty Report Card (First Call BC, Campaign 2000,  with SPARC BC, November 2018)
2. Shameful Neglect: Indigenous Child Poverty in Canada (CCPA, May 2016)
3. $10 a day Child Care Plan: Community Plan for a Public System of Integrated Early Care and Learning (Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, Early Childhood Educators of BC, February 2019)
4. UNICEF REPORT CARD 13: Fairness for Children (UNICEF, April 2016)
5. Walking the Line to Put Their Families First Lone Mothers: Navigating Welfare and Work in British Columbia (First Call, SFU, Single Mothers Alliance and SPARC BC, January 2016)
6. First Nations Child Poverty: A Literature Review and Analysis (First Nations Children’s Action Research and Education Service, 2015)
7. Are We Doing Enough? A status report on Canadian public policy and child and youth health (Canadian Paediatric Society, May 2016)
8. Housing need in Canada: Healthy lives start at home (Canadian Paediatric Society, October 2015)
9. BC’s Shame: Radio Documentary on Child Poverty (BCIT, December 2011)

The housing crisis affects all of us. You can’t read the news these days without something coming up about housing affordability and homelessness in BC.

In the Third Edition of Dying on the Streets: Homeless Deaths in British Columbia, Megaphone Magazine found that 70 homeless people died in 2015, more than one person per week. This is a 56 per cent increase from the year before, and a 40 per cent increase from the previous high of 50 deaths in 2008. The median age of death for a homeless person in BC is between 40 and 49 years, almost half the life expectancy of 76.4 years for the average British Columbian.

Homeless camps have formed to create safety and community in Abbotsford, Maple Ridge and Victoria but they’re constantly under threat from eviction without any stable housing being provided.

Let’s get to the heart of the problem. Housing the homeless saves us money in the long-run and taking the housing pressure off low-income families puts more money in their pockets, which, in turn, boosts the local economy and improves our communities.

Resources

1. Planning for a Build-Out of Affordable Rental Housing in Metro Vancouver: How many units and how much would it cost? (CCPA, December 2019)
2. 2018 Displaced: Rents and the Rate of Change in the Downtown Eastside (Carnegie Community Action Project, May 2019)
3. Red Women Rising: Indigenous Women Survivors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, April 2019)
4. Recent Changes to the Residential Tenancy Act (Vancouver Tenants’ Union)
5. Definition of Indigenous Homelessness in Canada (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, 2017)
6. Getting Serious About Affordable Housing: Towards a Plan for Metro Vancouver (CCPA, May 2016)
7. Dying on the Streets: Homeless Deaths in British Columbia, 2006-2015 Third Edition (Megaphone, April 2017)
8. Youth Rights! Right Now! Ending Youth Homelessness: A Human Rights Guide (Canada Without Poverty, June 2016)
9. We can’t talk about inequality without talking about homelessness (Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, The Guardian, March 2016)
10. Canada failing international housing obligations (Pivot Legal, February 2016)
11. Housing need in Canada: Healthy lives start at home (Canadian Paediatric Society, October 2015)
12. Rental Housing Index (BC Non-Profit Housing Association, May 2018)

In B.C., the costs of crime associated with poverty are $745 million. This includes direct costs, such as policing and the criminal justice system, as well as intangible costs, such as pain and suffering and loss of life.

People living in poverty are vastly over-represented in Canada’s prison population, and they are also more likely to be victims of crime. Extremely low welfare rates lead people to make difficult “choices,” such as staying with abusive partners, resorting to survival sex (trading sex for shelter, for example), panhandling, and stealing.  Our system criminalizes people for making impossible choices, while people living in poor neighbourhoods in our province face disproportionate surveillance.

Let’s get to the heart of the problem, fight stigma and reduce poverty.

Resources

1. The Cost of Poverty in BC (CCPA, July 2011)
2. As VPD budget spirals out of control, defunding police is our community alternative to drug war (VANDU, December 2019)
3. Project Inclusion: Confronting Anti-homeless & Anti-substance user stigma in British Columbia (Pivot Legal, December 2018)
4. No Pill For This Ill: Our Community Vision for Mental Health (Carnegie Community Action Project, April 2018)

Poverty is a fundamental determinant of both physical and mental health. This isn’t surprising, given that living in poverty means you are more likely to live in cold, damp or unsafe housing. You are also more likely to suffer more illness, have a chronic health condition, and die earlier.

A significant cause of these health problems is lack of food. B.C. is facing a chronic hunger problem and significant food insecurity. After paying for rent, heat and electricity, people with low income have little money left over for food so they are less likely to eat fruit, vegetables, milk products, and other food that provide the nutrients they need for good health.

Addressing long-term health issues associated with poverty adds up to a cost of $1.2 billion a year. Or, in other words, our public health care system could save $1.2 billion a year if poverty reduction initiatives reduced health care costs of the poorest 20% of British Columbians by raising their incomes. By not taking action on poverty reduction, our health care system is overburdened and we all face the consequences of long wait-times, overworked doctors, nurses, and medical staff, and unsafe hospitals.

Let’s get to the heart of the problem and reduce poverty so that the health care system we, as Canadians, pride ourselves on can be accessible and effective for all.

Resources

1. BC Poverty Reduction Coalition policy recommendations
2. The Cost of Poverty in BC (CCPA, July 2011)
3. Food Costing in BC 2017 (BC Centre for Disease Control, October 2018)
4. HungerCount 2019 (Food Banks Canada, November 2019)
5. Building an Equitable Foundation: Removing barriers to access for people with mental health and substance-use related disabilities (Canadian Mental Health Association, October 2019)
6. Dietitians of Canada BC Submission to the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation (Dietitians of Canada, May 2016)
7. Food Insecurity in Canada (PROOF, 2016)
8. Food Insecurity in Canada (Dietitians of Canada, October 2015)
9. Housing need in Canada: Healthy lives start at home (Canadian Paediatric Society, October 2015)
10. Poverty: Health Hazard for All Fact Sheet (BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, 2014)
11. Investing in Prevention: Improving Health and Creating Sustainability (BC Provincial Health Officer, September 2010)
12. Priority health equity indicators for British Columbia: Selected indicators report (Provincial Health Service Authority, January 2016)
13. Healthy Futures for BC Families (BC Healthy Living Alliance, September 2009)
14. BC Healthy Living Alliance Health Inequities (BC Healthy Living Alliance)