Poverty, inequality & welfare

Writing from our researchers this year

Dec 18, 2024
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Precarious work, and the impacts of precarity on the lives of British Columbians and temporary foreign workers, is the focus of the Understanding Precarity project co-directed by CCPA-BC and was addressed by a number of researchers. Here are some highlights…. View Article

BC Child Poverty Rate Climbs as Income Inequality Grows

Dec 4, 2024
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Thirty-five years after Canada’s parliament promised to end child poverty it still hasn’t happened. In 1989, a unanimous all-party House of Commons resolution was passed vowing to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Yet child poverty in British Columbia and across the country is on the rise again. The evidence of the… View Article
Katharina Pistor

2024 Rosenbluth lecture with Dr. Katharina Pistor

Oct 11, 2024
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In this lecture, Dr. Pistor discusses themes from her latest book, The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality, which explores how the public institutions of the legal system—like property law or taxation—are used to create private wealth…. View Article
A convenient distraction: racism

A convenient distraction: Is racist messaging being used in BC’s provincial election?

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Ever since the economy started to slow down, the political discourse in BC has shifted dramatically. Immigrants and international students are blamed for the housing crisis and for driving down wages; people experiencing homelessness, addiction or mental health crises are blamed for making public spaces “unsafe” and engaging in crime; and basic steps towards meaningful reconciliation with First Nations are framed as threats to our economic prosperity. … View Article
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Trapped in the wage gap

May 30, 2024
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On June 1, BC’s minimum wage is going up to $17.40 per hour. Despite this welcome pay raise for the 240,000 lowest-paid workers in the province, the minimum wage remains over $3 per hour lower than the lowest living wage in BC ($20.64 in Dawson Creek). In BC’s largest cities, Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria,… View Article