B.C. welfare case load rising
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Updated: June 04, 2009 10:53 AM
Nearly 51,000 B.C. residents received "temporary assistance" payments from the B.C. government in April, a 28 per cent jump from a year ago.
The increase comes as more laid-off workers in the forest industry run out of federal Employment Insurance benefits, and a broader economic slowdown shows its effects across industries. The number of employable people receiving assistance hovered around 40,000 for most of 2008, spiked to more than 44,000 in December and has risen steadily since then.
In its February budget, the B.C. Liberal government added 4.4 per cent for income assistance, bringing the total forecast cost to $1.44 billion for the fiscal year that began April 1.
Provincial disability benefits cases have also been rising slowly in recent years, reaching more than 70,000 in April. People with a permanent disability are not considered employable.
The temporary assistance category includes 5,500 people who have a medical condition but are expected to work. Another 6,000 are "temporarily excused" from work as of April, and 6,897 more have "persistent multiple barriers" to employment such as mental illness or addiction.
The number of dependent children on provincial assistance has climbed to nearly 33,000, a 15 per cent increase from April 2008 to April 2009.
During the recent election campaign, Premier Gordon Campbell promised to lobby the federal government to top up provincial assistance payments to the same level as Employment Insurance, so jobless people don't have to take a further income cut when their EI runs out.
The B.C. Liberal government last increased assistance payments in 2007. A single "expected to work" recipient now receives a maximum shelter allowance of $375 per month, and a support payment of up to $235.
A single "expected to work" parent with two children gets $1,036 a month.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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