Close to 2,000 New Westminster children will likely be caught on the wrong side of the poverty line this Christmas, according to a report on child poverty released last week.
The most recent family income data shows 1,830 (18 per cent) of the 10,240 kids who lived in New West in 2013 lived below the poverty line, according to the report by First Call B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.
That was lower than the Metro Vancouver rate of 20 per cent, the provincial rate of 20.5 per cent and the national rate of 19 per cent, as measure by Statistics Canada's after-tax low income measure (LIM), but that’s cold comfort to senior social planner John Stark, who is especially concerned about kids in New West’s two poorest neighbourhoods.
Brow of the Hill and Uptown had rates of 32.4 per cent and 37.1 per cent respectively, according to the city’s own neighbourhood numbers based on the 2011 National Household Survey, meaning more than one in three children in those neighbourhoods live in poverty.
“Those are really high percentages,” Stark said. “It means, for those children, they can’t partake in activities, they may be in overcrowded conditions, food security may be an issue, so that is really concerning.”
The First Call report directs most of its criticism at the provincial and federal levels of government, calling on the province to adopt a comprehensive poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines.
Cities like New West might not be able to raise the minimum wage or disability benefits, according to Scott Graham, associate executive director of the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C., one of the organizations behind the First Call report, but there are things they can do to make life less expensive for families with low incomes.
“When we think of child poverty, we’ve got to look at, ‘Well, what’s eating up the family’s budget?’” Graham told the Record. “If you’ve got young children and you’re working, child care is a big expense. And everybody needs a place to live, so housing is your next ticket item.”
Graham said New West has done a good job leading by example with its living-wage policy – adopted in April 2010 – and a better job than neighbouring Burnaby to protect its stock of affordable family housing.
“New West has taken greater strides to make more housing affordable,” he said.
But that is likely also one of the factors driving New West’s child poverty rate, according to Stark.
“We are sensitive and committed to keeping our market rental housing, which appeals to lone-parent families, immigrant families, refugee families, and typically those families tend to have lower incomes,” he said.
The city got a picture of what life is like for those families last year in four focus groups with 19 participants accessing services at the Elizabeth Fry Society, Spirit of the Children, New Westminster Family Place and Family Services.
“We got them to bring people together that they knew and then we asked them questions,” said Ministry of Children and Family Development family consultant Gabriela Maio, who ran the sessions.
The participants talked about challenges, she said, like trying to find housing, child care and healthy food on low wages or income assistance. Besides struggling to meet their children’s basic needs, Maio said they also struggle against the stigma of poverty for their children.
“They talked about wanting to have a better life for themselves and for their children, and they didn’t want their children to be seen as different,” Maio said. “It’s looking at being able to pay for school photos and field trips and all that stuff.”
For Stark, helping families pay for some of those seemingly minor things is important.
“Sometimes when you’re just meeting basic needs you miss out on all those other parts, which are really important, around social connectedness and feeling part of the community.”
Maio’s work is part of an initiative launched by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the Union of B.C. Municipalities in 2012.
New West, along with six other B.C. municipalities in the pilot project, is working on a comprehensive strategy to reduce local poverty.
Along with ideas for making New West more affordable for low-income families, Stark said it will also include an advocacy component aimed at the provincial and federal governments and getting them to improve things like the minimum wage, income assistance and disability benefits.
“We’re trying to do our part, and hopefully we can make some movement on some of those larger, income-related issues.”
