Serious poverty-reduction plan would save billions: report
Says cost to society is at least $8 billion
Lyle Fisher Jul 15, 2011 07:43:03 AM
0 VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - If the BC government would come up with a serious poverty-reduction plan, it could save taxpayers billions of dollars every year. That's according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
It says the bottom line is poverty in BC represents a direct cost to government of $2.3 billion annually, or about six per cent of the provincial budget. But the cost to society overall is considerably higher, ranging from $8 billion to $9 billion -- or close to five per cent of BC's gross domestic product.
One of the biggest costs is health care; research shows the lower your income, the more likely you are to use public health care resources.
Other costs of poverty include $745 million related to crime and $6.2 billion in lost productivity and potential earnings. |
發表於 2011-7-15 07:47
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