Easing the squeeze for families on Family Day
Posted February 7, 2013 7:49 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC’s first ever Family Day is this holiday Monday and some of the province’s biggest charities are taking the opportunity to remind everyone that our province is a tough place to live for young families.
“Generation Squeeze” is an umbrella term for Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials, coined by Dr. Paul Kershaw, a policy professor at UBC.
He says there is an imbalance in government spending between younger Canadians and retirees; it is young generations and families that are being squeezed by lower incomes and the high cost of things like tuition, housing and childcare.
According to Generation Squeeze, “Canadians under age 45 face a precipitous drop in their standard of living. But government spending prioritizes Canadians over 55, the very generations that benefited the most from a national economy that more than doubled in size since 1976.”
Kershaw says Canadian governments now spend an average $45,000 on people over the age of 65 and only $12,000 on people under the age of 45.
BC’s six biggest charities back Kershaw and the notion of Generation Squeeze.
The YMCA, YWCA, United Way, Family Services, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Vancouver Foundation have put out a statement saying Family Day is an opportunity to “shine a light on” the challenges young families face while dealing with the high cost of living.
