A report issued by First Call, a BC child and youth advocate coalition says that:

• BC had the highest child poverty rate in Canada for the 5th year in a row at 21.9%
• Average incomes for both female lone-parent families and two-parent families with children living in poverty fell more than $11,000 below the poverty line
• Over half of BC's poor children lived in families where the adults worked the equivalent of a full-time job or more

The report recommends that the BC and federal government need to: raise the minimum wate to $10.76, abolish the training wage, raise welfare rates, restore welfare earnings exemptions, create universal access to child care, build more social housing, restore the cuts made to Employment Insurance, and cover prescription drugs and dental care.