Archived - Governments Turn Their Backs on the Poor

Release of Welfare Incomes 2003

Welfare rates across Canada are so low they can only be described as punitive and cruel, said the National Council of Welfare in a report released today entitled Welfare Incomes 2003.

The Council's report noted that with few exceptions, welfare incomes across Canada in 2003 deteriorated through cuts, freezes and the eroding cost of inflation. Welfare incomes were far below the poverty line in all provinces and territories.

"Despite years of promoting the idea that we should move people from welfare into the workforce, Canadian welfare programs continue to throw up barriers," said John Murphy of Canning, Nova Scotia, the chairperson of the Council. "Welfare incomes are so low that people are forced to spend all their energy on daily survival. This completely undermines a person's chance to get back on his or her feet."

The Council was particularly critical of the clawback of the National Child Benefit, a mechanism that allows provinces and territories to reduce payments to parents on welfare. When the federal government negotiated the National Child Benefit with the provinces and territories, it allowed them to take part of the federal children's benefit for low-income families away from those with parents on welfare. Newfoundland and New Brunswick opted out of the clawback from the outset, and more recently, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario decided to limit their clawback.

"Some would argue that clawing back part of the National Child Benefit from parents on welfare creates an incentive to work. At the National Council of Welfare, we simply have no patience for that argument. Of course, it makes sense to provide incentives to work. But taking money away from people on welfare - with incomes already horrifyingly low - makes no sense at all," said Mr. Murphy.

In 2003, a single parent with one child on welfare in Edmonton received only $11,897 for the entire year - just 48 percent of the poverty line. A couple with two children in St. John, New Brunswick, survived on just $16,852 or just 53 percent of the poverty line. Couples with two children in larger centres survived on an unthinkably low $18,063 in Montreal, $18,471 in Toronto, and $18,086 in Vancouver.

The situation was even worse for single people. A single person with a disability received $6,911 in St. John, New Brunswick, just 41 percent of the poverty line. A single employable person received just $3,383 or 20 percent of the poverty line in St. John, and just $6,445 a year to live in Vancouver.

"How do we expect people to go to job interviews and training programs when they can't even afford a bus ticket? How can we expect them to put their energy into finding work when they struggle every day to find food and housing for themselves and their families?" said Mr. Murphy.

A year earlier, in 2002, British Columbia made it impossible for single people and families on welfare to supplement their meagre incomes with earnings. The province eliminated earnings exemptions completely. "This is just one more example of welfare policies undermining people's efforts to get back into the work force," said Mr. Murphy. "Earnings exemptions are a good way to encourage people on welfare to get paid work."

Welfare Incomes is a regular publication that tracks the annual welfare incomes of four typical households in each province and territory: a single employable person, a single person with a disability, a single parent with one child aged two, and a couple with two children aged 10 and 15. The National Council of Welfare has published similar estimates since 1986.

The National Council of Welfare is a citizens' advisory body to the Minister of Social Development Canada.

Released Date 2004-07-07

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• Welfare Incomes 2003