1. deal with child poverty by providing a minimum income

2. generate horizontal equity for households with and without children

3. act as an economic stimulus by putting $ into the hands of people who will spend it

4. recognize that parents are contributing to the future of society

household remains below some measure of poverty even though one or more members of the household are employed

- a.k.a. the working poor

- consistent and adequate income security for families with children

- availability of living wage jobs

- early childhood care and education

- affordable housing

1944 - universal benefit that went to all families with children regardless of income

- became targeted to those in need in 1978

- eliminated in 1993 

"Recognition of Family Needs" (1918-1940)

- Indian Act of 1876 led to residential schools

- Mothers' Allowance in 1916

- Child tax exemption of 1918 

1918 - a needs tested, monthly benefit 

- eligibility requirements varied by province

- morally tested so "bad" mothers did not receive the benefit 

"Universal Benefits" (1941-1974)

- Family Allowance Act of 1944

- attending school became mandatory

1944 - a.k.a the Baby Bonus

- provided a monthly payment of $5.94 to the mother of every child under the age of 16 

- was a universal benefit until 1973

- became taxable in 1973

- clawbacks in 1989

- was terminated in 1993

"Erosion and Growing Poverty" (1975-1990)

- Child Care Expense Deduction in 1971

- Refundable Child Tax Credit in 1978

1971 - intended for lone parent families

- designed to offset the cost of child rearing for parents in the labour force

- deduction from personal income taxes, limited to $2000 per child under age 14

- maximum of $8000 per family 

- deduction increased in 1998

1978 - caused Family Allowance benefits to decrease

- goal was to help families meet the costs of raising children

- income tested

- varied according to the number of children in a family 

- first time that the tax system was used to redistribute income, providing maximum benefits to low income families

"Targeting Poverty and Work Incentives" (1991-present)

- Child Tax Benefit (1993)

- Working Income Supplement

- Canada Child Tax Benefit and National Child Benefit Supplement (1998)

- Universal Child Care Benefit (2006)

1993 - a monthly payment based on the number of children and the level of family income

-  basic benefit of $1020 per year

- supplements for having more than 3+ children: $75/child

- supplement of $213 per year for each child under the age of 7

- including working income supplement of $500

1998 - CCTB was the basic benefit

- non-stigmatizing, inclusive, non-taxable

- NCBS is an additional tax credit for low-income families with additional child benefits on top of the basic benefit

- clawback for social assistance recipients

- first joint federal/provincial initiative

- first national social welfare program since medicare and CPP

2006 - tazable $1200 per year benefit for each child under 6 years of age

- to replace national daycare initiative

1. Family Responsibility Approach

2. Investing in Children Approach

- the role of income security and social services is to faciliate decision making and provide support when the family's ability to provide fails

- promotes labour force attachment as the primary focus

- social spending on income supports and childcare is an investment that benefits all of society in the long run

- recognizes that the market is unable to provide sufficient incomes for families and that the state must intervene proactively to support children and their families