Federal Election
June 2, 1997
  
 

 

A Framework for Canada's Future

Canada's children deserve the chance to build a better future

Giving our children a strong beginning.

IT IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. Canada is among the richest of nations. But, far too many children and their families are trapped in poverty. According to the National Council of Welfare, the number of Canadians living in poverty is over 5.1 million. Over 57 percent of single parent mothers, and 83 percent of single mothers under 25 are poor.

At one time, the Liberals talked about attacking child poverty and providing child care to allow parents to take full-time, family-supporting jobs. They have done the opposite. Three successive Liberal budgets have clobbered poor families. By tossing in the towel on jobs, gutting unemployment insurance and slashing social assistance, they have helped push half a million more children and their families into poverty.

They have also broken their promise to create a national child care program, and cut funding that supported provincial child care programs.

Canada needs a new commitment to better futures for children and families. In 1989, when Parliament unanimously passed a motion by former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. Instead child poverty has increased by 49 percent. One in five Canadian children lives in poverty.

Alexa McDonough and Canada's NDP say all children deserve a chance to show what they can do.

We will fight for a national program to eliminate child poverty in Canada within ten years. Our proposal will lift 500,000 poor children out of poverty by the year 2000, and cut the rate of child poverty in half within six years.

 

In cooperation with provincial and territorial governments where appropriate, the federal government should:

 

This would be achieved through a multi-faceted program, including an integrated child benefit, new child care and early childhood education spaces, and a sustained effort to lower unemployment.

If market earnings alone are considered, more than 1.5 million Canadian families would be considered poor. After government transfers are factored in, one million families remained poor.

 

Poverty among working-age families, Canada, 1994
 

Market Poor

Total Poor
Percent of families
22.8
14.6
Number of families
1,557,000
1,000,000
Average poverty gap
$13,845
$8,145
Total poverty gap (billions)
$21.6
$8.1
* Working-age families are those in which the head and spouse (if present) are both less than 65 years of age.

Source: Prepared by the Centre for International Statistics at the CCSD using Statistics Canada's Survey of Consumer Finances microdata, 1995.

 
 
Precarious labour market fuels rising poverty

The progress against poverty achieved in the 1960s and 1970s has stalled since 1975. Poverty has not improved at all over the last 20 years. In fact, the low income population was significantly larger in 1995 (17.8 percent of all Canadians) than in 1975 (14.2 percent).

The economy of the 1990s is creating an abundance of non-standard jobs which pay low wages, offer few if any benefits, and are often part-time or unstable. While most couples now have both spouses in the workforce, many families are just a pay cheque away from poverty.

Official statistics greatly understate the problem. In 1995, the real unemployment rate ­ which includes people who have given up actively searching for work and part-time workers who want full-time jobs ­ was 15.2 percent or 60 percent higher than the 9.5 percent official rate.

­ The Caledon Institute, December, 1996
 
 
The income gap is growing

"In 1984, the median market income of families with children in the wealthiest quintile was 12 times higher than the median market income of families in the poorest quintile. By 1994, the wealthiest families with children enjoyed an income that was nearly 24 times higher than that of the poorest families with children."

­ The Progress of Canada's Children, 1996, Canadian Council on Social Development.
 
 

Canada ranks second highest in national wealth, and lowest in family support.

 
Comparative family support and national wealth
Country Rank
Basic Child Benefit
1994 (Can $)
 Country Rank
RealGDP/Capita
(PPP$) 1993
1. Austria
3,920
 1. United States
24,680
2. Belgium
3,917
 2. CANADA
20,950
3. Norway
3,731
 3. Japan
20,660
4. Sweden
2,925
 4. Norway
20,370
5. Netherlands
2,650
 5. Denmark
20,200
6. Japan
2,490
 6. Belgium
19,540
7. Denmark
2,486
 7. France
19,140
8. United Kingdom
1,889
 8. Austria
19,115
9. United States
1,811
 9. Germany
18,840
10. Germany
1,805
 10. Sweden
17,900
11. France
1,748
 11. Netherlands
17,340
12. CANADA
936
 12. United Kingdom
17,230
Sources: OECD (1995). The Tax/Benefit Position of Production Workers 1991-1994, Parts III and IV UNDP (1996). Human Development Report 1996, Table 1.
 

For this comparison, all families in Canada have been divided into five equal groupings, or quintiles.

Giving young people the opportunity to get a good education, build a career, or start a business.

FOR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN today it is almost impossible to find work. The unemployment rate for youth is double the rate for workers over 25. The unemployment rate is 17 percent for all young Canadians, and even higher at 23 percent for those without post-secondary education. Most of the available jobs promise low wages and little future.

Young people understand that education and training are needed to succeed in the modern economy. Many are pursuing higher education and specific job training. But many others have been cut off by high tuition fees and punitive student loan programs.

The Liberals have forced tuition fee increases in colleges and universities, cut funding for training, and haphazardly turned training over to the provinces. Liberal actions have fueled a trend towards elite institutions charging prohibitive tuition fees that effectively exclude the majority of students from attending. For example, first year enrollment immediately dropped 11 percent when Acadia University increased fees that were already Canada's highest.

 

New initiatives proposed by Alexa McDonough and Canada's NDP would open the doors to education, training and opportunity for young people, not slam those doors as Liberal decisions are doing. These initiatives include:

 
 
 Table of contents
 
 

 

 

 

Authorized by the New Democratic Party of Canada Association, Official Agent for Canada's NDP.

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