was invigorating but we'd no idea it was quite
as intoxicating asthat.

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Soy SN

THIS PAPER IG RECYCLABLE

ae a a
wot eg Ore
a
ee ae er re er ee ee

alr ere ee ee ee

an honest living.
That's the knee-jerk reac
the 90 per cent of our. citizenry: who'll never have

to worry about welfare for themselves. Applied to
one category of welfare recipient, it’s not merely a
- harsh judgement, It’s a stupid one.
The category is single rents for $450; the money
parents, of whom there are
about 12,000 on welfare in
Greater Vancouver -- mostly
mothers. How they got into
that situation is beside the
point.

For better or worse our
society long ago decided that
nobody must be left without
food, shelter and life’s bare
necessities, So until we're

-prepared to actually et
people starve to death, the
problem remains socicty’s.
And B.C.'s present welfare
system is proving woefully
inefficient at solving it for
the benefit of all concerned.

The nub of the problem is
how to encourage * im-
poverished single parents to
work themselves off welfare

needs can. easily be reduced
- to about $90. as,

Last November the B.C,
Health Ministry : estimated
the cost of adequately
feeding an adult female and
one child at $162 a month,
which says it all.

Obviously, the only an-
swer is to increase welfare
payments or allow the
recipient to supplement the

resent payments to a living
ncome level with whatever
earnings he or she can obtain
by part-time work.

However, such carnings
aré now limited to $100 per
month, bringing the total
“legal” income to $640 -

~which, according to the
and become self-supporting, government's = own
as many of them wanttobe, atatisticfans,. léaves Mom
~~~ nrost- cases the-current—--end-her-child-with-just-over
system has exactly the $6 8 week for heat, light,
opposite effect, It works to clothing, bus fares, toilet
keep reciplents on welfare tissue and similar sundries,
indefinitely. Here's how. If you exceed the $100 limit
. by a couple of bucks, and
report it, your welfare is cut.
If you don’t report it and are
caught, it can mean three
months in jail - the sentence
given to Burnaby mother
lorence Kemp recently,
Nevertheless; hundreds of
> other welfare mothers take
the same risk: rather than
face near-starvation for

“990 LEFT OVER

The single welfare parent
presently receives $540 per
month -- in theory $300 for
shelter and $240 for food and
other basics, -Since the
average two-bedroom suite
in the Lower Mainland now

t
hee
soak

rore

left for food and all other .

right.

se ae

or a re

Pr er hd

citizen. |
_ Canadian funds in the

aN

a

themselves: and their
children. The Welfare
Department may call it
fraud, They call {t survival.
They babysit, work as
homemakers or grab ani
other lowly job. for whle

“they-can” be patd’ tn “non= ~~

recorded dollar bills,
“JUMPING OFF"

Unfortunately, these are
_ also =the worst-paid .
_ sround, A $4-an-hour job,

jobs

even full time, grosses only
about $690 a month, which Is
hardly ‘a major inducement

to give up. the welfare

cheque. To make any. ‘real

headway you need a job that :

pays by. cheque, with
statutory deductions ~ and

“ almost automatically. b:
automs y hts

earning limit to take account ::
‘of ‘the Lower Mainiand’s:
, Present exorbitant rents ~

, im ortant,

alike

reclably:-more. than
nadequate .welfare cheque

them into conflict wit
$100-a-month rule,

Quite clearly, the solutio
is to raise: the allowab!

saibly to a ceiling of $250
ever ‘tnd above" the $540.
welfare cheque itself. .
It would cost the taxpayer
little extra, if anything at all, :
because so many welfare .
recipients -are already. |
surropatittously exceeding ".
the $100 fimit anyway. But It.
would free them from the’
threat of a possible jail term:
and a criminal record which
practically: guarantees that
they --remain...on . wollare:
It would be a giant step.
forward in encouraging
independence and,’ most»
an eventual.
reduction in.the numbert —
now dependent on long-term
welfare,
With present-day inflation”,
the existing welfare.”
regulation . againat.
reasonable self-help morely
in. order to survive is bilking
recipients and. taxpayers

ope hppa

“Ina word, it's plain dumb. ©