Excerpts from summary:
This report compares welfare benefit rates available to individuals and families eligible for "temporary assistance" with the monthly cost of the goods and services required for daily living. These costs include food, clothing, household supplies, personal care, transportation, child care, shelter and the other minimum costs associated with participation in community life. We compare our estimated costs to the maximum benefits allowed.
The primary finding of this report is that the 2007 increases to BC Employment and Assistance rates did little to improve the ability of recipients to cover minimum living costs. There have been no material changes made to the welfare structure since that time, but inflation has continued to erode the meager incomes available to people receiving assistance in BC. Families with children are able to meet more of their costs than in 2005, but this is almost wholly explained by the introduction of the federal Universal Child Care Benefit in 2006 and not the result of increases to BC Employment and Assistance rates.