How could we save billions of dollars a year fighting poverty?

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16 July 2014

Getting breakfast at the Queensborough Middle School Breakfast Club run through New Westminster School District 40. The program is managed by the New West Community Schools team funded by United Way.

Recently, MLA Michelle Mungall introduced a private member’s bill proposing a B.C. Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act. As reported in the Kelowna Daily Courier, the bill asks that the government develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy within one year, and legislate specific targets and timelines to reduce the breadth and depth of poverty. One in five children in B.C. lives in poverty – one of the highest child poverty rates in Canada. The authors of the report – Ted Bruce (who spoke at United Way’s AGM in June), Seth Klein (who won a Labour Appreciation award in 2013), and Trish Garner – argue that we can’t afford not to embrace a poverty reduction strategy. They tallied up the costs of poverty. Their calculations suggest that the costs of health care alone in relation to poverty are $1.2 billion per year. Adding criminal justice costs and lost productivity gives a grand total of $8 billion to $9 billion per year. On the other hand, they suggest that a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, including building affordable housing and providing universal childcare, would cost approximately half that at $3 billion to $4 billion per year. More and more literature states that tackling poverty up front is the single biggest factor in improving health outcomes for everyone, not just those living in poverty. United Way helps families move from poverty to possibility.

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