Open letter to B.C. minister of social development Michelle Stilwell on welfare rates
A number of groups released the following open letter to Michelle Stilwell, B.C. minister of social development and innovation, today (March 30):
This April marks the 8th year in a row that welfare rates have remained frozen despite our provincial government acknowledging the need for an increase. The rate for single people who are expected to work, $610 a month, is literally not enough to pay rent and buy food, let alone meet other necessary expenses. According to the Dietitians of BC the cost of nutritious food for a month for a single man was $290 in 2011. The average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in Vancouver is over $1000. Families and people with disabilities are also suffering.
We urge the provincial government to raise welfare rates substantially to ensure that the 174,772 people on social assistance and disability can meet their basic needs.
Endorsed by:
Trish Garner on behalf of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, with over 400 member groups throughout BC: “The current income assistance system in BC is fundamentally broken. People in desperate need are being denied assistance, and if lucky enough to navigate all the structural and administrative barriers to welfare and have their application accepted, they are subjected to a life of “survival,” struggling to meet the most basic needs of shelter and food. Welfare is only $610 for a single person and $906 for a person with a recognized disability, and has not been raised since 2007. It wasn’t enough to live on then and it definitely isn’t enough to live on now. We support a significant raise in welfare and disability rates!"
Thelma Jack, Interim Director, and Bill Beauregarde, Community Co-ordinator, Aboriginal Front Door: “With higher rates people could afford better accommodation, other than SRO's, which can be bad for their health. People could have the dignity of choice of buying their own food and not standing in line for free food.”
Wes Regan, Executive Director, Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association: “Raising welfare rates will increase the spending power of the residents who live alongside our merchants, better enabling them to shop locally and enjoy the range of goods and services available here. This better enables small businesses and social enterprises to create further jobs, including jobs for those with barriers. In short, increasing welfare rates is good for business as it puts money right back into the local economy, where it can do its work to create a healthier community.”
Janice Abbott, CEO, Atira Women’s Resource Society: “The biggest impact of an increased support allowance will be increased access to more food and better nutrition, resulting in better health, better decision making, better/improved interpersonal relationships including relationships with children, greater independence and increased dignity. For some women it may also allow for increased participation within their neighbourhoods, including greater civic engagement and the opportunity to give back to their communities. Children who are able to stay in their families and be nurtured physically and emotionally are also far less likely to experience the same indignities their parents may have experienced, including homelessness, struggles with substance use and mental and spiritual wellness. This is a long-term investment in all our futures.”
Ethel Whitty, Director, Carnegie Community Centre: "With the shelter portion of income assistance at $375 and the average rent for a one bedroom apartment in Vancouver at over $1000, people who need welfare can’t afford to rent a place to live in Vancouver unless they get into social housing. Tenants often wait years before a social housing unit becomes available. If welfare rates went up substantially people would have options other than homelessness or being forced to live in tiny hotel rooms and share washrooms with strangers."
Paul Taylor, Director, Gordon Neighbourhood House: “Community organizations across the province are seeing an increase in the number of people on welfare accessing community-based charitable meal programs and the like. The growth is not sustainable for community organizations that struggle to meet the growing demand. People on welfare struggle to meet their food needs each and every day, as they navigate the web of emergency/charitable - this is not a solution to poverty.”
All of us urge your government to take immediate action and raise welfare rates substantially.
Comments
11 Comments
S. Johnstone
Mar 31, 2015 at 7:28am
Without a doubt, the welfare rates need to be raised, considerably. It'll cost a fortune but they are stupidly low, especially for this part of the world. Even without the (arguable) economic benefits, it's the compassionate thing to do. Sure some people are abusing the system (I know two personally) and some will just spend the extra money on drugs/booze, but the vast majority are largely unemployable and suffering under the current conditions. This is especially critical when children are involved. They are the ones who suffer the most and will carry the scars of poverty for life. They will enter adulthood one step behind the others and for many, they will never catch up. Time to give a leg up.
Traci
Mar 31, 2015 at 9:35am
Well said. As a support worker for people with mental health issues, I get to see the substandard housing, lack of nutrition, extreme stress and struggles, gaps in the system and inhumane barriers to help that many folks are living with. This only exacerbates mental health problems, costs the system more in health care fees, and creates a growing culture of unhappiness. We need to start taking care or our citizens and empowering them, not treating them like they are an economic problem. We need to took at provincial and federal mis-spending for that.
Sick of Poverty Pimps
Mar 31, 2015 at 2:02pm
Ms. Abbot is one of the 1% of the poverty business together with her partner who is a conveniently placed bureaucrat with BC Housing. Odd how many folks making six figure salaries "helping" people in the DES are married to government bureaucrats or politicans, or used to be. The DES has soaked up more than $1 billion in a decade and the signatories to this letter who "work" down there are part of the problem and offer no solutions. Profiteers and ideologues make sure that the cycle of poverty continues.
Chadd
Apr 1, 2015 at 12:01am
I've had a series of events which lead me to being on welfare the better part of this past year... they line us up like cattle outside the door - for HOURS and HOURS and HOURS... whether that person is sick, disabled, old, has little kids, whatever the case... last time I went in I was in line for 6 hours total, only to be told that the $1000 I earned in wages the month before meant I made too much money to remain in the program (even though that particular month I only earned $300)... and now the job has totally dried up and I'm SCREWED because of $1000 I earned 2 mths ago... I'd have been better off not even working for all the hassles of trying to get back on track here. They make us feel inhuman with this pathetic approach to "helping" us... and that's not to mention the computer systems that are constantly down, forcing the office to close or remain hampered for days on end at times.
RBK
Apr 2, 2015 at 8:24am
The leaders of these antipoverty organization need to get a better grasp of their Economics. Have they considered asking where we are supposed to find the money to fund double or triple the current gross social assistance budget? Lets look at a couple options, raise taxes, lower education budget, or maybe medical? hmm... Or what an influx of 170,000 people who all the sudden have the purchasing power to rent homes and what that will do to the housing market? Here I'll tell you , long story short demand increase so there is INFLATION. So the hard working people will now have to pay more. One of the worst things in our society is entitlement!
Aidan_500
Apr 12, 2015 at 6:12pm
Quick craigslist search has rooms for rent for $250 in Langly (close to sky train and bus stop).
$610 - $250 for rent = $360
$360 - $290 for 'ideal nutritionists diet' = $70 left.
I work a minimum of 50 hours a week to afford my own apartment in Vancouver and I absolutely love living here. But I spent many years living with room mates (some I liked, some not so much) and taking transit before I could get to this point. Grab a book or some headphones and start commuting until you can afford your ideal place.
Cat
May 5, 2015 at 8:52am
RBK...Wow, what a typical comment coming from someone obviously not in need of help. God help you if you find yourself, as I did, on a disability due to no fault of my own....merely my body deciding to grant me the lovely gift of both a Bone Marrow Tumor as well as several other internal
problems. I worked hard at decent, well paying jobs for years, as did my entire family. What quality of life awaited me was not merely challenging, but absurdly "punishing"! To have to "decide" whether to pay your rent or eat for the month is inhumanly cruel for someone to have to make. This desperation, coupled with already existing physical & emotional hardships beg for society to acknowledge! And when nothing changes, year after year, of "struggling" just to "exist, society then scratches it's proverbial noggin and wonder why impoverished people turn to crime, or attempt to skirt the system! The answer is simple: DESPERATION!!!
I bet some of you think I exaggerate....some may even feel I am condoning criminality...NOT SO!
I am law abiding, kind, respectful, trustworthy and hurting. And I am a single lady...can you imagine what a family must co-exist on?! This is Canada, not a third world, impoverished country for goodness Sake! You certainly can't suggest that only employable, working people are "entitled" to basic, affordable shelter, food, support & dignity! (Oh wait....yes you are...as indicated by the meager offerings this system (Govt.) designates the impoverished!) And just take a good look at the suicide rates within the poor communities! (Being in the situation I find myself, I can relate. People are sick & tired of being sick & tired!) Okay, I've had my fair share of living with rats, dangerous people, and hunger.....all that was once unfathomable to me. Looking into a fishbowl is not the same as being a fish! This province, particularly B.C., screams of abuse! How lovely to be healthy....to be able to sustain employment which in turn gives one a sense of pride & purpose...to wonder what's for supper and look forward to curling up in a warm bed, "safe" and to be able to improve one's situation. There is no "growth" with poverty!! There is no such thing as "safe", "nourishment" nor mental stability. In fact, it is a "constant struggle" to simply "exist. I'm serious...it is NOT "living". Living without "Hope" is redundant.
Stan Vandale
May 16, 2015 at 7:54am
RBK. You are inhuman, arrogant, and should have your head examined.
I have been on PWD, for 3 years, I too had a job, car, fulfilling life. all the things in life i could care to have. Until I suffered, strokes, high blood pressure, clogged arteries.
Now I live in a 15x15 box, you would call a hovell , at legion manor. My rent is 450.00 per month.
the rest is for food, clothing, other necessities. and by the time , it gets near the end of the month. guess what no food, i can't even afford cable. I pray, ignorant people like you, fall off the top and go strait to the bottom. and find out what it is like to be without. Did i want to be here in this position? Well i guess you can figure it out for yourself. I would love to meet you on the street. and give you what you deserve. a slap upside your head. for people like you ignorance is bliss. Karma, my friend, is a bitch.
RK
Jun 14, 2015 at 10:12am
If you're privileged to have comforts of a life does not mean you can understand society and its ills. Those people who are on welfare now for various reasons are once a tax payers or citizens who wanted to give back to the society ( some still giving back. It is important to understand social problems are created by macro forces - the capitalist economic regime ( greed for profit), bad social policies, and social conservatism ( once race, gender, class, orientation is superior than others). Welfare sucks! I am social worker and my clients on welfare feel find welfare checks not only enough to sustain but also unnecessary hassle from administrators.
Teller
Aug 8, 2015 at 1:57am
Except for a short time when I couldn't, like a lot of people on welfare, I've always worked. Between jobs I took government work programs that took time to complete & which I put my heart & soul into. ie typing course,computer course, office management course. Everytime I finished a course the counsellors, plural, who were there to direct my plan to full-time work let me down. Everytime.
Luckily, Craigslist came about and I realized I could use it to create my own job. And that's what I did. Now I'm stuck between a rock & a hard place. I'm not claiming my job because who can I trust? If I approached welfare will I come up against another 'don't give a toss counsellor' who'll sell me down the river like the others? I'm scared, really scared. I can't go back to the beginning. I'd rather it just end. I wish I could meet with one of the posters, Cat, she seems right on every point she makes.