Social Policy in Ontario

Kids’ poverty

Posted on December 17, 2016 in Child & Family Debates

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TheGlobeandMail.com – Opinion/Letters to the Editor
Dec. 16, 2016.   SID FRANKEL

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has drawn attention to an alarming inconsistency in the Trudeau government’s approach to social policy (Child Benefit Will Cost Billions More If Tied To Inflation After Election: PBO – Dec. 15).

The government rightfully says the Canada Children’s Benefit is important in significantly reducing child poverty and in helping middle-class families to invest in raising their children. If these goals are important, is it not also important for the benefit to maintain its effectiveness? So, why let it erode until 2020? Why let the rate and depth of child poverty increase until then, and why impair the purchasing power of middle-class families in the face of rising costs? Is this fair? Looked at differently, isn’t it worth $300-million (the estimated cost of indexing to inflation) to protect an investment of $22-billion?

Sid Frankel, Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba

< http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/letters/dec-16-aleppo-and-the-west-plus-other-letters-to-the-editor/article33341851/ >

Tags: budget, child care, poverty, standard of living

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