B.C. budget: Clawbacks of child support payments to end

Parents on income or disability assistance will soon be able to keep every dollar they get in child support from an ex-spouse under changes revealed in the B.C. budget Tuesday.

Bowing to pressure from the Opposition and anti-poverty advocates, Finance Minister

Mike de Jong announced that government will stop clawing back child-support payments as of Sept. 1.

Victoria’s Together Against Poverty Society, which was among those pushing for an end to the clawback, celebrated the change.

“It’s by no means going to solve the problem of poverty in British Columbia,” said Stephen Portman, interim executive director. “But it’s going to be a breath of fresh air; it’s going to be a bit of relief in what is an incredibly challenging life.”

He expressed disappointment, however, that de Jong failed to raise overall rates for people on income or disability assistance.

The rates have remained stagnant since 2007 despite steady increases in the cost of living. A single income-assistance recipient currently receives $375 a month to pay for shelter, which Portman described as a “homelessness-creating” provision.

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