End poverty in BC
Posted on February 14, 2011
BC needs a poverty reduction plan!
From:
http://bcpovertyreduction.ca/learn-more-a-poverty-reduction-plan-for-bc
BC Poverty Facts
Here are some basic facts about poverty in BC. For more information, check out Poverty Reduction Questions and Answers (pdf).
By any measure, BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada – and as we head into a global economic downturn, the situation risks getting worse.
- Over half a million British Columbians – 13% of our province’s population – live in poverty. One in four are children.
- BC has had the highest child poverty rate in Canada five years in a row.
- Most poor people are working. More than half of BC’s poor children live in families where at least one parent has a full-time job.
- According to the 2008 Metro Vancouver Homelessness Count, there are more than 2,660 homeless people in the region. That’s more than double the number of homeless counted in 2002 (a 137% increase).
- Women, Aboriginal people, recent immigrants and refugees, and people with disabilities, mental health issues and/or addictions are most vulnerable to poverty.
- There’s nothing inevitable about poverty.
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