Issue 2: Tax, Race, and Child Poverty: The Case for Improving the Canada Child Benefit Program

Abstract

Existing literature reveals that Black and Indigenous children are overrepresented in the child welfare system, that poverty is among the key factors producing this overrepresentation, and that child poverty is racialized. As such, tackling poverty and its racialization is an important component of an overall strategy to address overrepresentation. As the income tax system provides support to families with children, including through the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) program, this article investigates its role and effectiveness in reducing child poverty in general and racialized poverty in particular. Our main conclusions include the following: the CCB is arguably the best anti-child poverty instrument in Canadian tax history; it is reasonably designed to address child poverty in general, but not racialized poverty; and there is room for improving the delivery of the CCB to racialized children.