(Vancouver, BC: Unceded Coast Salish Territories) Today, The Vancouver Sun has published an editorial by Viveca Ellis, the executive director of the Centre for Family Equity. Titled "Budget 2024 does not go far enough for low-income families in B.C.", this op-ed addresses some of the shortcomings of BC Budget 2024 in addressing poverty for the province's most vulnerable families and the need for a more robust focus on targeted poverty reduction in BC.

The op-ed draws attention to alarming statistics revealing the upward trend of child and family poverty in the province, particularly affecting lone-parent families. This underscores the inadequacy of the short-term BC Family Benefit increase, and calls for sustained support through indexed benefits to alleviate poverty in the long term.

Furthermore, the stalled progress of BC's $10-a-day childcare system, which remains inaccessible to many parents with too few spots available across BC, hinders their ability to secure stable employment to support their families. The emphasis of the budget should be on the indispensable role of affordable childcare for low-income families to sustain their livelihoods. We urge the government to expedite the program's expansion, as well as ensure BC is developing affordable rental for families in the lower-middle income brackets, along with more social housing. 

Read the full op-ed in the Vancouver Sun to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges facing low-income families in B.C. and the urgent need for comprehensive policy interventions recommended by the Centre for Family Equity.