Income, disability assistance rises in B.C. but activists say more is needed
Posted March 16, 2021 7:23 pm.
Last Updated March 16, 2021 7:25 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Income and disability assistance payments are being increased in B.C. next month, but for groups who’ve been demanding more for years, the $175 boost is not considered enough.
In what the province is calling the “largest-ever permanent increase to income assistance and disability assistance,” over 300,000 people are expected to receive the increased rate.
A single person on income assistance will now receive $935 per month, while a couple will receive $1,427.22 per month.
A single person on disability assistance is now getting $1,358.42 per month, while a couple will get $1,947.56.
Karen Ward is a community advocate and long-time resident of the Downtown Eastside and says while she appreciates the action the NDP is taking, calling it long overdue, she says this increase just isn’t enough.
“We’ve got to set a goal and get there fast. Real people are dying. Real people are dying real deaths and they don’t have to and this is why,” says Ward.
She says the monthly boost needs to be at least $300.
“People are making choices that they should never have to make. Going for weeks without food in the fridge — if you’re lucky enough to have a fridge. This is downright inhumane with the wealth that we do have in our province and the choices that we do make. Every one of them matters.”
.@kwardvancouver tells @NEWS1130 "This is downright inhumane with the wealth that we do have in our province and the choices that we do make. Every one of them matters."
Between April and December, monthly payments rose by $300, but that was cut down to $150 in January. #bcpoli
— Marcella Bernardo (@MBernardoNews) March 17, 2021
Between April and December of last year, the province temporarily increased monthly pay by $300, but in January, that was cut in half.
“Only comes out to a net $25 increase — $960 a month for people on basic income assistance, $1,360 for people on disability assistance,” says Ward. “That’s still $300 less than the poverty line and that includes rent.”
Meanwhile, the senior’s supplement is also going up $50 to $99.30 for a single person — marking the first increase since the program started in 1987.
The province says it will benefit around 80,000 seniors.