Goldstein: How the Canadian Child Benefit Shifted Support from Low-Income Families

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's flagship Canadian Child Benefits (CCB) program provides government support to low-income families relative to middle- and high-income families. We have actually reduced the total amount of income earners, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute released Thursday.

CCB costs taxpayers his $25.2 billion this year, but his two government programs superseded under the previous Conservative government In fact, it said it shifted federal income support to high-income households, compared to . of its tax-exempt status compared to previous programs that were not tax-exempt.

"The federal government often insists that child benefits are paid to Canadian families who need it most, but changes in overall spending tell a different story." , co-author of the study, Jason Clemens, for a financially conservative think tank, titled Adjusting for the Canada Child Benefit's Tax-Free Status.

Based on Statistics Canada data, the study concludes: Adjust tax exempt status to raise old programs to 29.7% under CCB.

In contrast, “Families with incomes between $60,000 and $180,000 increased their spending share from 49.2% in the old program to 66.8% in the new program, with a tax-adjusted -Free status.

Only families with an annual income of over $180,000 reduced their share of total spending from 7.9% in the old program to 3.5% in CCB.

"Ottawa CCB is yet another targeted federal program at a time when the U.S. is running a never-ending deficit," Clemens said.

Carina Gould, Minister of Family, Children and Social Development, said last month that the Trudeau administration introduced a 2016, inflation-linked CCB in 2018 that saw a significant increase in government support for families. said he did.

She said CCB lifted 450,000 of her children out of poverty between 2016 and 2016. Compared to her 2015 levels in 2019, combined with the government's temporary COVID-19 emergency measures, she's up to 782,000 children in 2020.

Government pledges to spend $27 billion over five years to work with state and territory governments to bring the average cost of licensed child care to $10 a day by 2026. Combined, Gould said the CCB: She remains central to the federal government's efforts to reduce poverty by 50% by 2030, compared to 2015 levels.

Given that annual inflation is now at a nearly 40-year high and low-income households are being hit hardest, the government's current outlook is unrealistically optimistic. maybe.

That being said, while it is true that CCB has helped lift many families and their children out of poverty, concrete numbers are a constant in Canada. subject to debate. is defined.

However, a key problem, according to Fraser Institute research, is that CCB is an inefficient program because it disproportionately supports high-income households at the expense of low-income households. about it.

"Although overall her CCB spending has increased compared to her two previous (government) programs," the study concludes. It targets families in need while reducing the overall program costs borne by all Canadian taxpayers.