Launching Poverty Myth Busters: Who you gonna call?

When flat-out wrong ideas about poverty in BC are being thrown around, who you gonna call? The Poverty Myth busters!

Brought to you by our fantastic Poverty Reduction Action Committee (PRAC), we are super excited to announce this new campaign, which was launched on Sunday, March 15 at the Fight for 15 rally in Vancouver.

Check out the short video below – it’s a story that captures the lives of so many in BC working hard to get by but still trapped in poverty.

And if you’re interested in joining this campaign, make sure to come out the next PRAC meeting, happening Thursday, April 30!

Enjoy!

Trish and Gil

Poverty Myth Busters – “Get a job” doesn’t cut it!

Let’s get to the root of the problem!
Whether you’re at a party, having dinner with your parents, at the bus stop, or listening the news, whenever there’s a discussion about poverty, you will no doubt hear things like “the situation in BC isn’t that bad”, how “the poor are lazy” and they “just need to get a job”, or that “those on welfare are taking advantage” of our social assistance programs.

But, did you know that BC has had one of the highest poverty rates, including child poverty, for the last 13 years? And most poor people are working! Poverty is really a story of low wages in BC. The recent increase to the minimum wage of 20 cents per hour will do little to tackle that.

Not only that, we have inadequate welfare and disability rates that have not increased in eight years; unaffordable and inaccessible childcare for parents with small children; and an underfunded public education system.

It’s time to bust those myths and get to the root of the problem!

Please help us share the awesome first video of the campaign on Facebook and Twitter. This is the first in a series so visit the #PovertyMythBusters campaign website and stay tuned for more!!