The federal minister in charge of child care efforts says she still sees the need for the government’s fundamental child benefit, even in a Canada with a national daycare system.
Families Minister Karina Gould says Canada’s Child Benefit was never designed as a childcare program, but to help parents defray the costs of raising a family and reduce poverty rates.
Since the income-based benefit was introduced in 2016, the poverty rate for children under 18 has fallen to 9.7% in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available. That compared to 16.4 percent in 2015.
Gould says the push to build a national daycare system also aims to ease cost pressures on parents by lowering childcare fees that in some cities can cost more than a monthly mortgage payment.
But even when average rates hit the government’s goal of $ 10 a day by 2026, Gould says there will still be households that will need Canada’s child allowance to pay the bills.
That’s why Gould says he doesn’t see the benefit disappearing from the federal toolbox for families.
“There will always be families, maybe it’s a single parent or a single-income household, or there are reasons why the other parent can’t or can’t work, that will continue to need that benefit,” Gould said. he said in an interview.
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“I think it will continue to be a really important way to fight child poverty in Canada.”
The government’s economic update in December forecast that spending on the child benefit would fall for the second consecutive fiscal year from April, going from $ 26.4 billion to $ 25.5 billion, before climbing to $ 28, 2 billion by 2027.
The decrease is the result of the termination of a temporary bonus paid to families with young children.
Canada’s child allowance is still needed alongside the national daycare system, says Minister @karinagould. #CDNPoli
Gould said there have been some families who saw a reduction in CCB payments because they received emergency income support in 2020, but it was not as dramatic a drop as that seen for low-income seniors receiving the guaranteed income supplement. .
As benefit spending recovers, the government will increase its annual funding for child care systems run by the provinces. The Liberals have signed agreements with 11 provinces and territories, with only Nunavut and Ontario left.
On talks with Canada’s most populous province, Gould said there is political good will on both sides of the negotiating table to reach an agreement, although he did not say how long it would take to get there.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Gould minister for families, children and social development in October, after she previously served as minister for democratic institutions and, more recently, international development.
For Gould, assuming her new position helps merge her political and personal life: her three-year-old son is in daycare in Ottawa and she travels to Burlington on the western edge of the greater Toronto area.
Gould, who is the mother of a pandemic, said she takes into account that families, and children in particular, need a little more support than usual “because life is so much more difficult.”
A recent report from the government’s poverty advisory council noted that the pandemic has been traumatic for children through rounds of lockdowns that can have “lasting impacts on the general health and educational attainment of an entire generation.”
Gould has been tasked with boosting mental health services for children and suggested that one way to do that would be to put the money to the provinces in healthcare transfers.
He also has on his plate modernizing Service Canada, which is responsible for handing out billions in profits annually.
The move to digitize the department’s systems has included automatic senior registration for old-age security and income supplement payments.
More work could better identify seniors who are not yet receiving benefits, he said, and perhaps provide unemployment benefits to people faster by seeing payroll changes in real time.
“There is a great opportunity here to serve Canadians and support citizens in a much more efficient and effective way that will alleviate a lot of stress and really help deliver those benefits when they need them,” said Gould.
This Canadian Press report was first published on December 28, 2021.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com