One factor affecting the purchasing power of the NCTB has been the $850 million increase announced in the 1997 budget.

1. What has been the erosion in purchasing power of the CTB due to inflation since 1993?

2. How many children receive partial CTB benefits now who would have received full benefits if the system had been fully-indexed since 1993? How many of them are low-income?

3. How many children receive no CTB benefits now who would have received some benefits if the system had been fully-indexed since 1993?

4. What would the annual cost of fully-indexing the CTB be?

5. What has been effect on the CTB since 1993 of de-indexing for a family with two children; on social assistance? with an income of $27,500? with an income of $55,000.

Provincial Claw-Back

Provinces will reduce social assistance by an amount equal to the increase in the NCTB. The 1997 Budget claimed that "Some 1.4 million families with 2.5 million children would receive higher federal benefits." How many of these children will receive reduced provincial supports?

6. How much of the $850 million increase in federal income support, is offset by a reduction in provincial income support? What is the increase in income support, net of the provincial claw-back? What is the increase in provincial expenditures which will result from the NCTB; how much is this per poor child?

7. What proportion of the increased support, net of the provincial claw-back, goes to couples with children and what proportion goes to single-parents?

Attacking the so-called "Welfare Wall "

One might argue that for single-parents with pre-school children the work expectation is less; yet, these families would appear to be largely excluded from increased support under the NCTB.

8. What proportion of the increased income support, net of the provincial claw-back, goes to pre- school children with a single-parent? What proportion of poor-children are pre-school with a single- parent?

Final Impact

9. What will be the impact of the NCTB (net of the provincial claw-back), on poverty statistics? What will be the impact of the NCTB on the average poverty gap and the poverty rate, for pre-school and all children, for children of single-parents and couples.

Richard Shillington
November 6, 1997

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