Raise the Rates - Demands

1. Increase income assistance rates for all

Increase income assistance rates for all, including people with disabilities, to a level that provides an adequate living standard; index new rates to the cost of living.

Raise the Rates members have decided to use the federal government’s Market Basket Measure (MBM) to define this level, which is approximately $1327/month for a single person in Vancouver and $1725 for a single parent with one child. The MBM specifies the income level needed to eat a nutritious diet, buy clothing, rent in the community, and pay for other necessary expenditures. (Reference)

Why do we want income assistance rates increased?

Before the small income assistance increase in February 2007, rates for people without disabilities had not been raised in 12 years. In fact, the current provincial government made a number of severe cuts in 2002.

The 2007 increase of $100 for a single ‘employable’ person makes the current rate $610 a month.

In April 2007, the average rent in BC was $672 for a bachelor suite, with a high of $722 in Vancouver (Rental Market Report, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation). The approximate monthly cost of food for a single woman is $162 (The Cost of Eating in BC, Dietitians of Canada, BC Region. (Reference)

Current rates condemn those on income assistance to hunger, homelessness and ill health. They do not cover rent or allow nutritious eating, let alone other basic necessities such as clothes, phone, utilities, laundry, medical expenses, etc.

Seniors’ pensions are indexed to inflation but income assistance rates are not. It is time the poorest people in the province were protected from the political whims of the government.

Hunger – In 2006, 81,248 British Columbians - a 7.7% increase compared to 2005 - sought assistance from charitable food banks. This is an underestimate of the hungry and food insecure as many will not turn to charity to feed themselves. More than a third of food bank users are children. 34.5% of food banks report they cannot meet the demand. (CAFB, 2006) The right to food is not about the giving away of free food but the ability of all to purchase affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food for ourselves and our families. Raise the Rates urges our governments to comply with their obligation under international law to ensure an adequate standard of living for all.

What impact would this policy change have on people’s lives in BC?

As of June 2007, there were approximately 140,000 people, including dependent children, trying to get by on income assistance. (Reference)

At least 60% of people on income assistance in BC have severe disabilities and may have to depend on the pension for the rest of their lives. Even though the government says its goal is to "provide low income persons with disabilities with the best system of support in Canada," people on disability receive only $939 a month, about $400 less than the poverty line for able-bodied people. To make matters worse, many people have disabilities that aren't recognized by the government and therefore cannot even get the full $939 per month. Is this the best that a province with a $4.1 billion surplus can do?

Raising rates would immediately lift these people out of poverty. If the barriers to accessing assistance were also addressed, many more people would be lifted out of poverty.