B.C. posts worst child-poverty rate for sixth straight year in 2007, but it's not as bad as previous year
The good news is that B.C.'s child-poverty rate dropped significantly in 2007, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The bad news is that B.C. has registered the worst child-poverty rate in Canada for the sixth consecutive year.
Accoring to an analysis First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, B.C.'s child-poverty rate fell from 16.5 percent in 2006 to 13 percent in 2007. This means that the number of poor kids fell from 137,000 to 108,000.
The 2007 rate was the lowest since 1991.
The B.C. rate is still significantly higher than the national child-poverty rate of 9.5 percent in 2007, according to First Call.
Statistics Canada has reported that unemployment is up nearly 70 percent in B.C. this year, and the welfare caseload has risen almost 50 percent for adults expected to work.
First Call noted that poverty-rate statistics are based on a "low income cut-off" based on family income after government benefits are received and after payment of federal and provincial income taxes. The poverty line for a family of four living in a large city in 2007 was $33,946, according to First Call.



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