BRITISH COLUMBIA

Prepared by Dave Murray, Abbotsford Community Services Food Bank

Individuals assisted: 76,514 (1.8% of provincial population)

Percent children: 36.3%

Percent reporting employment income: 11.5%

Percent receiving social assistance: 42%

Percent receiving disability income supports: 21.5%

Percent living in a shelter or on the street: 5.8%

As we reflect on the state of food banks in British Columbia it is definitely a “cup half full” scenario. The great news is that food bank usage declined in the 2007 HungerCount. The number of adults served declined by 3.6%, and the number of children served declined by 10.3%. Overall the total number of people served dropped by 5.8%, from 81,248 to 76,514.

On the surface this appears to be a cup filled with reason for great optimism. Combined with a record-setting 3.9% unemployment rate and the creation of 371,400 new jobs, it appears that our cups are overflowing in B.C.

However, the cups of food bank clients are not as full as one might expect.  In 2007 it is expected that a single mother’s income will decline by $3,900 per year. Here are a few indicators that lead us to this conclusion:

• Welfare benefits have been cut by $43 per month;

• If no disability is recognized the client will not be eligible for earnings exemptions;

• The child maintenance exemption of $100 per month has been eliminated.

Further, a study released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds that BritishColumbia’s welfare system is systematically discouraging, delaying, and denying assistance to many of the people most in need of help, with harmful consequences – including homelessness – for some of the province’s most vulnerable residents. The report examines why the number of people receiving welfare plummeted in the wake of changes to eligibility rules and the application system in British Columbia.

Another sobering fact is that British Columbia continues to have the highest child poverty rate of any province in Canada for the third consecutive year. The B.C. rate is 23.5%, or nearly one in every four children, living in poverty in our province. This is well above the national child poverty rate of 17.7%.

The fact that the number of children using food banks dropped significantly (-10.3%) must be taken with guarded caution. A one-month snapshot may only be a reflection of what truly is in the food bank cup.

As one food bank operator stated, “It is wild out there.” New roads are being forged, building cranes are in abundance, and facilities are taking shape for the 2010 Olympics. The sad fact is that for most food bank clients their cups remain at best “half full”.