Edmonton Social Planning Council

Category: Social Issues: Family

  • Spotlight: Lessons on Child Poverty during a Pandemic

    Spotlight: Lessons on Child Poverty during a Pandemic

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    The Alberta Child Poverty Report is a yearly publication that highlights the plight of children and youth living without the resources to thrive and grow into healthy adults. Every year, the Child Poverty Report advocates for better social services and governmental assistance to give all children the opportunities they deserve.

    This year’s report is titled Spotlight: Lessons on Child Poverty during a Pandemic. The report casts a light on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting children and how it is exacerbating problems that were present long before the pandemic started in March 2020.

    The Alberta Child Poverty Report is a collaboration between the Edmonton Social Planning Council, the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), and Public interest Alberta (PIA). It is part of the Campaign 2000 coalition, a national movement that sought to end child poverty by the year 2000. Obviously, Canada failed to meet this objective and much work remains before poverty for children and youth is eradicated.

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  • Tracking the Trends 2020

    Tracking the Trends 2020

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    Tracking the Trends provides a comprehensive overview of Edmonton’s social well-being.

    The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) is pleased to present this 15th edition of Tracking the Trends. Thirty one years after the release of the first edition in 1989, we remain committed to regularly updating this valuable compendium of social and economic data critical to sound decision-making. We hope decision-makers, social policy planners, researchers, and the general public will find this publication useful in broadening their understanding of social trends in the Edmonton region.

    The publication of this edition was postponed by several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused disruptions to work as ESPC adapted to working from home, as well as delays in data releases. Unfortunately, data on COVID-19 could not be captured in this report, but the effects of the pandemic on Edmontonians will be seen in future Tracking the Trends.

    Download the full Tracking the Trends report here (PDF)

    Note: since the release of this report, we identified the following errata. The PDF version has now been updated as of January 15, 2021.

    Table C4: Total Apartment Vacancy Rate, October Average, Edmonton CMA, added in missing value for the year 2006

    Table D11: Employed Persons Earning Low Wages by Gender, July 2017 to June 2018, Edmonton CMA. The “total” for wage “$13.60” was incorrectly listed as 54800, this was corrected to 54.8

    Table F4: Maximum monthly AISH benefit payments, added in missing values for the years 2000-2002 and 2004

    Figure F4 was updated as well to reflect the added in values

    Table F5: Number of individuals receiving Employment Insurance, added in missing the value for the year 2008

    Table G8: Lone-Parent to Couple Family Proportion, Edmonton CMA, added in the missing value for the year 2009

    Table G9: Property and Violent Crime Rates, Crime Severity Index, Edmonton City. An older version of the table was inserted by accident, it was replaced with an up-to date version.

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  • fACT Sheet — Child Benefits in Alberta and Canada

    fACT Sheet — Child Benefits in Alberta and Canada

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    Introduction

    Child benefits have been demonstrated to be an important tool for alleviating and reducing child poverty. A recent report from UNICEF highlighted that in 15 high-income countries, delivering universal child benefits alone led to a five percentage point reduction in child poverty on average. In light of the economic toll the COVID-19 pandemic is having on low- and middle-income families coupled with recent changes to benefit programs, our fACT Sheet assesses the current state of provincial and federal child benefit programs for Alberta and Canada, respectively.

    Alberta Child and Family Benefit: Overview and History

    Child benefits in Alberta were initially introduced as the Alberta Working Family Supplement by Premier Jim Prentice in March 2015. At the time, the tax credit would provide working families earning less than $41,220 an annual benefit of $1,100, and an additional $550 for each of the next three children. This was set to take effect July 2016.

    When Rachel Notley became premier in May 2015, the program was revamped and implemented as the Alberta Child Benefit (ACB).

    This was done in conjunction with an enhanced Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit (AFETC), which provided a maximum annual benefit of $754 for the first child, ranging up to $1,987 for families with four children of more. Families had to earn at least $2,760 in employment income to receive the credit. The “phase out” threshold was $41,250, and families earning above that threshold were to receive less of the credit proportionately to their income, becoming zero when their income reached about $77,000.

    In its first year of implementation (2016-2017 benefit year), the ACB reached 245,060 children in 127,345 families while the AFETC reached 359,790 children in 178,745 families. The average annual amounts families received for each benefit were $1,145 and $780, respectively.

    In the years following, these benefits were indexed for inflation. By 2019, the maximum benefit for the ACB was $1,155 for one child and $2,886 for four or more children. For the AFETC, families could receive a maximum benefit of $783 per year for one child, and $2,604 for four or more children. 

    The New Benefit Program

    After Jason Kenney became premier in April 2019, his government’s first provincial budget saw the ACB and AFETC combined into a single program called the Alberta Child and Family Benefit (ACFB). The ACFB took effect in July 2020 and provides direct financial assistance on a quarterly basis to low- and middle-income households. The benefit is divided into two components: the base component and the working component. The base component is available to families regardless of employment status and gives up to $1,330 annually for the first child, all the way up to $3,325 for four or more children. This component starts to decrease after families make $24,467 and ends once families make $41,000 in household income. The working component applies to families who make over $2,760 a year, and provides up to $681 annually for the first child, or $1,795 for four or more children. This component starts to drop after families make $41,000 and ends at $61,000 in household income.

    What the New ACFB Means for Low-Income Families

    The threshold for receiving provincial child benefits drops off drastically at a relatively low-income cut-off, and families who are barely making enough to support themselves will not get sufficient benefits. Once a household income reaches $41,000, a family is no longer eligible for the base component of the ACFB, while the working component simultaneously begins to decrease. This means that a dual income family where both parents work full-time at minimum wage ($15 per hour) would not receive the base component and would see a reduced working component.

    In comparison, under the previous ACB and AFETC benefit schemes a dual-income family with two children that made $41,000 would have received $3,187 in benefits, while under the new system they will only receive $1,886. This is a significant reduction in benefits and undermines the progress previously made in alleviating child poverty. Families losing out on government transfer income will likely have to make more employment income to support their families in order to provide a modest existence and reach financial security.

    Canada Child Benefit: Overview and History

    Child benefits delivered by the federal government have been in existence in some form since 1945. The most recent incarnation is the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which was introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016 to replace its predecessor, the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). The UCCB initially provided a taxable $100 per month benefit to every child in the country under the age of six. By 2015, the benefit had increased to $160 per month, just before Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister.

    Trudeau’s revamped CCB increased federal spending on child benefits, making them more generous for low- and middle-income households, and less generous for higher-income households. At the CCB’s inception, households with an annual income of $30,000 or less received a maximum of $6,400 per year for each child under the age of 6, and $5,400 per year for each child between the ages of 6 and 17. Higher household incomes received progressively smaller benefit amounts, up to a maximum of households earning more than $200,000 annually, which did not receive any benefits. All of those benefits were tax-free.

    Since 2016, the CCB has been indexed to inflation to keep up with rising costs of raising children. As of July 2020, the maximum child benefit families receive is $6,765 per child under the age of 6 and $5,708 per child between the ages of 6 and 17.

    In the 2018-2019 benefit year, nearly $24 billion in benefits reached more than 3.6 million recipients in Canada. In Alberta, nearly $3 billion in benefits reached over 445,000 recipients in the province.

    Recent Developments

    As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Trudeau issued a number of relief measures to help Canadians financially impacted by the economic downturn caused by the virus. This included a one-time extra payment of $300 to families for each child under the age of 18 allocated via the CCB.

    The Trudeau Liberals also campaigned during the 2019 federal election on a pledged 15% increase to the CCB for children under the age of 1, giving families up to $1,000 more annually. Despite their re-election, this campaign pledge has yet to be implemented for the 2020-21 benefit year.

    Areas of Concern

    While the CCB has been lauded for reducing child poverty across Canada and lifting nearly 280,000 children out of poverty, questions persist about whether further investments are needed to address child poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some advocacy groups, including Campaign 2000, have argued that the one-time $300 top-up to the CCB should be continued for at least the duration of the pandemic and its economic fallout as an important income security tool.

    In addition, the distribution of child benefits for both provincial and federal programs to those who qualify is contingent upon filing a tax return. An average of 12% of adult Canadians do not file tax returns (15.3% for Albertans). A large portion of those who do not file are among the most vulnerable populations, with estimates showing that roughly one-third of social assistance recipients do not file taxes. As many as 40% of eligible First Nations families do not receive the CCB. This lag in distribution undermines the intended poverty reduction goals of these programs.

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  • fACT Sheet: Impact of Benefits on Low and Modest Income Edmontonians

    Living in low income poses significant challenges. Here is a list of a number of programs and benefits implemented by all three orders of government to assist individuals and families.

    ESPC Documents/PUBLICATIONS/A.06.B FACT SHEETS/fACT_Sheet_Impact_of_Benefits_August_2019.pdf

  • A Profile of Poverty in Edmonton – May 2019 Update

    Poverty affects people from all walks of life — young, old, employed, unemployed, those who are new to Canada and those whose ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years. The structure of the economy traps people in bad situations and forces some into poverty by constraining choices and limiting options (Ghatak, 2015). Limited social housing, eroding benefits, and lack of access to stable, good-paying jobs, has created an economy that takes away many people’s choices and leads to poverty. People are increasingly forced into unstable jobs that don’t pay enough to satisfy needs, and some can’t find jobs at all. The cost of living has also gone up, which forces many people to focus on making ends meet and living day-to-day, rather than planning for the future or their children’s future. Because people in poverty lack the means to participate in their communities, they are often socially isolated (Mood & Jonsson, 2016; Stewart et al., 2009). The stress experienced from poverty can lead to negative impacts on mental and emotional health, the ability to make decisions, and even family and neighbourhood cohesion (Carvalho, Meier, & Wang, 2016).

    Edmontonians believe in helping and protecting one another, so we must work together to address poverty. For this reason, the Edmonton Social Planning Council has produced this Profile on Poverty — 2019 Update in partnership with EndPovertyEdmonton. EndPovertyEdmonton is a community initiative working towards prosperity for all through advancing reconciliation, the elimination of racism, livable incomes, affordable housing, accessible and affordable transit, affordable and quality child care, and access to mental health services and addiction supports (EndPovertyEdmonton, 2019). It uses a collaborative model, whereby governments, businesses, non-profits, and many other forms of organizations can come together to end poverty in Edmonton in a generation (30 years).

    We need to break the constraints of our current economy. Every Edmontonian deserves to have the freedom to pursue opportunities.

    It is our responsibility to ensure all people in our city have a decent standard of living.

    ESPC Documents/PUBLICATIONS/A.06.G REPORTS/Edmonton Poverty Profile 2019b.pdf

  • Alberta Child Poverty Report – 2018

    The annual Alberta Poverty Report is an annual report created by the Edmonton Social Planning Council, in partnership with Public Interest Alberta and the Alberta College of Social Workers. This report finds that Alberta remains to have the largest gap between the rich and the poor of all the provinces, with the richest 1% earning 46 times the poorest 10% of the provincial population, relative to other Canadian provinces. The purpose of this report is to inform the public and policy makers the effects of poverty, the current government’s attempts at reducing poverty, and to present the areas and programs in which they can improve on.

    Various challenges are still prevalent in Alberta despite the multiple solutions implemented by the Government of Alberta. As poverty costs Albertans about $7.1 to $9.5 billion per year, government programs that tackle the root causes of poverty can provide the necessary resources for the next generation to thrive as well as break the cycle of poverty.

    Some of the key findings in this report are as follows:

    • Over one in six Albertan children live in poverty. From 2006 to 2016, the number of children in Alberta living in poverty has grown 23.4%. Although the new Canada Child Benefit has resulted in a modest reduction of child poverty across the nation, Alberta did not have the same reduction between 2015 and 2016. 
    • Alberta is one of two provinces that does not have a provincial poverty reduction strategy, even though one was identified as a priority under the 2013 Social Policy Framework. A provincial strategy would promote real action to address poverty, including leveraging and coordinating investments, resources, government initiatives, and various communities and stakeholders.
    • Indigenous, racialized, and LGBTQ2S+ communities and women are disproportionately affected by poverty. 24.1% of Indigenous children live in poverty but the numbers may likely be higher as census data does not include children living on reserves. Moreover, 17% of visible minority children live in poverty. Similarly, LGBTQ2S+ youth are disproportionately overrepresented in the homeless population at 25%-40%.
    • Lone parent families experience higher rates of poverty compared to other family types. For instance, low-income lone parents with one child have an income that is about $13, 324 lower than the poverty line in 2016. Additional barriers faced by female-led families include unequal pay, working fewer working hours due to familial responsibilities, discrimination based on gender, race, and/or sexual orientation or identification.
    • Three-quarters of workers who benefit from the minimum wage increase are 20 years or older, with more than 40% falling within core working age of 25 to 54. A large majority of low wage earners are women, 37.2% have children, of which 12.2% are single earners.
    • Income support demand has increased by 65% since 2014. Consequently, Alberta’s income support rates are among the lowest in all of Canada. Even with a promising policy change through Bill 26, which would increase financial support for Albertans needing it, single adults receiving AISH will still be below the poverty line after the increase in 2019.
    • Despite the GoA’s efforts in ending homelessness, there are still 5,735 people experiencing homelessness, based on April 2018 Alberta point-in-time homeless count, 11% of which were under the age of 18.
    • In the two largest cities in Alberta, a significant cost is paid towards early childhood education, with the median monthly preschooler fees at $1,000 and $885, in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively.
    • Even with the Small Class Size Initiative, class sizes have not actually been reduced, which may negatively affect children’s school performance and encourage drop-out apathy from teachers. Similarly, there is a significant gap between the high school completion rate for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students at 60.2% compared to the provincial rate of 83.4%
    • $1.2 billion of poverty costs in Alberta go towards health care. 4.5% of Albertans spend 3% or more of their income on out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses, but this is much higher for those in the lowest 25% of income earners, with 16.6% of Canadians spending more than 3% of their income on prescription drugs. In Alberta alone, about half of the population under the age of 25 are uninsured and likely a large proportion of them are ineligible for private coverage and forego public premiums.

    ESPC Documents/PUBLICATIONS/A.06.G REPORTS/Alberta Poverty Report 2018.pdf