Canada’s National Child Benefit

Phoenix or Fizzle?

Edited by Douglas Durst

The National Child Benefit announced in the 1997 federal Budget promised 850 million dollars to move children out of the welfare rolls and the trap of poverty. This book attempts to outline the key concepts of this new program and set the stage for discussion of its potential impact. The writers do not agree. This book does not present a unified argument either supporting or critiquing the program but raises a series of important issues and concerns regarding the programs effectiveness in addressing child poverty. The question remains: Is this new federal social program a phoenix rising from the ashes of past social welfare programs or just a federal fizzle?

Contents

• Preface
• Phoenix or Fizzle? Background to Canada’s New National Child Benefit (Douglas Durst)
• The National Child Benefit: Best Thing Since Medicare or New Poor Law? (Ken Battle)
• Income Security and the Labour Market: Saskatchewan Perspective on the National Child Benefit (Rick August)
• Caring in a Globalizing Economy: Single Mothers on Assistance (Karen Swift and Michael Birmingham)
• Child Poverty and the cctb/nbc: Why Most Poor Children Gain Nothing (Jane Pulkingham and Gordon Ternowetsky)
• So There You Go! (Pete Hudson)
• Bibliography