Friday, March 23, 2007
Provincial Budget Seeking to Address Poverty
The Ontario Government tabled the 2007-2008 provincial budget on Thursday, March 22, 2007. The government’s pre-election budget is focused on addressing poverty within Ontario. A few highlights include:
For example, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has released an analysis that sees “a very short list of very modest initiatives spread out over a very long period of time.”
CCPA finds that the increased funding in child care represents only half of what the federal government has transferred to Ontario towards child care, and CCPA states that the Ontario Child Benefit is a new initiative that will take 5 years to fully implement. They also note that the measures do not address the need for affordable child care, which is "the biggest obstacle to employment faced by social assistance recipients."
CCPA concludes that the focus on child poverty "[ignores] the obvious—that children don’t live in poverty by themselves. They live with parents who live in poverty” which “doesn’t deal with the reality of families living in poverty.”
Download the CCPA Budget report for the full analysis.
- An increase in the minimum wage by 75 cents a year over next three years to $10.25 by 2010;
- 2% increase for people receiving social assistance or disabled benefits (this is the first increase to those benefits in four years);
- $2.1 billion Ontario Child Benefit program to give low-income families up to $250 per child in 2006 escalating to $1,100 by 2011;
- New housing allowance starting in 2008, worth up to $100 a month to help low-income families pay their rent; and
- An additional $25 million for child care, doubling to $50 million in fiscal 2008.
For example, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has released an analysis that sees “a very short list of very modest initiatives spread out over a very long period of time.”
CCPA finds that the increased funding in child care represents only half of what the federal government has transferred to Ontario towards child care, and CCPA states that the Ontario Child Benefit is a new initiative that will take 5 years to fully implement. They also note that the measures do not address the need for affordable child care, which is "the biggest obstacle to employment faced by social assistance recipients."
CCPA concludes that the focus on child poverty "[ignores] the obvious—that children don’t live in poverty by themselves. They live with parents who live in poverty” which “doesn’t deal with the reality of families living in poverty.”
Download the CCPA Budget report for the full analysis.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends
