[*Note: This is an elaboration of "Tales from the Nanny Nation - Part I". It is presented as a commentary only, and it is not intended, nor does it present itself as
authoritative.]
Who's in charge?
After a fairly
comprehensive search I have concluded that the whole child benefit system is like a huge bun machine that has gone out of control. Money is being pumped into it, and money is being pumped out of it, and nobody is in charge. Indeed, every politician who aspires to office does so with the promise to throw more money at it, but I doubt whether any of them have the slightest idea of what is already being spent.
This has to be galling to the many childless couples and individuals who, while being forced to pay into this bloated system, are getting little but grandiose promises and platitudes, unsupported by any cost/benefit analysis that I know of, in return.
As you read this, perhaps you will pause to wonder how countless generations of parents raised and educated their children without $100-million-dollar, 'Taj-Mahal'-like schools, to which children are transported in buses or taxis, and where they are offered such amenities as prayer rooms and daycare facilities.
Or, how they ever managed without a program called "Nobody's Perfect"--a grant program for underage parents.
Having said that, I invite you to read on.
Updates to the Nanny Nation payouts:
Since this blog was posted, Harper has
added a bit more candy to the nursery – And, of course, a
further debt to those who do not qualify (most particularly seniors and
singles: i.e.
1)
A tax
credit worth up to $2,000, calculated by letting the higher-earning spouse in
a couple with kids transfer up to $50,000 of income to the lower-earning
spouse. In total, Canadian families will pay $1.9 billion less in taxes as a
result of this income-splitting measure in 2015-16.
2)
The second
is a boost to the so-called Universal Child Care Benefit, from $100 to $160 a
month for each child under the age of six, as well as a new $60-a-month
payment for each kid aged six to 17. This measure will cost Ottawa an
estimated $2.6 billion in 2015-16.
Happy paying everyone!
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1. Ontario Child benefit (Ontario)
This is the
basic payout funded by the Ontario government, whereby each child under the age
of the eighteen is eligible to a maximum benefit of $109.16 per month to a
maximum of $1,310 per annum, i.e.
Ontario Child Benefit Monthly Payment
Estimates for July 2013 to June 2014*
|
||||
Family Net Income
|
||||
Number of
Children |
$20,000
|
$25,000
|
$30,000
|
|
1
|
$100.83
|
$67.50
|
$34.17
|
|
2
|
$201.67
|
$168.33
|
$135.00
|
|
3
|
$302.50
|
$269.17
|
$235.83
|
|
4
|
$403.33
|
$370.00
|
$336.67
|
|
Taken
individually, $106 per month doesn't seem significant; however, given that there are
approximately 3,000,000 children under the age of 18 years in Ontario, this
program alone amounts to an expenditure of $327.5
million per month, or $4 billion annually.
2. Eligible
dependent Grant (Ontario)
A single parent
raising kids can qualify for a $10,320 credit
that becomes a tax savings of around $1,500. The credit is designed to give lone parents a tax break similar to
what married couples get.
3. Education tax
credit (federal)
Full-time and
part-time students are eligible for a basic credit, and since they usually
don’t have big incomes, most of the credit ($5,000 minus the amount
the student claimed on her tax return) can be transferred to parents. The rules
apply to tuition, textbook and other education expenses (sadly, though, you
cannot claim for all the beer your student consumed while at weekend “study
sessions”).
4. Child Care (Ontario)
A parent (or
parents) can apply for a child care benefit if the child is:
·
under
12 years old (or up to 18 years old if the child has special needs)
·
is
a school-aged child in a recreational program, or
·
is
in a before-and-after-school program in a school that offers full-day kindergarten (!).[1]
If the child is under 6 years, it might qualify under the federal Universal Child Care Benefit: $100 per month per child
under the age of 6. The benefit is designed to help families “as they try to
balance work and family life,” say the feds, “by supporting their child care
choices through direct financial support.”
Since the price
of daycare will vary with each individual operator, the cost of this benefit is
uncertain. However, given there are approximately 5.4 million children in
Ontario under the age of 12 years, the cost is likely to exceed $100 million per annum.
5. Assistance for children with severe disabilities
(Ontario)
A parent or
parents of a child with severe disabilities can get between $25 and $440 a
month to help with the cost of special needs. However, since the number of
recipients is unknown, there is no way of calculating the cost of this program.
6. Canada child tax benefit (CCTB) (federal)
Not to be
outdone, the federal government has some handouts as well. The Canada Child tax
benefit is a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help them
with the cost of raising children under age 18.
It may also
include the National child benefit supplement, as well as a child disability
benefit.
For example,
based on a married couple with two children and an annual income of $20,000,
the basic monthly payment would amount to $238.83; plus a National child
benefit supplement of $348.75; and the Ontario Child benefit monthly payment
$201.66, for a total all $789.24 per
month, or $9470.88 per annum.
However, since
the number of recipients is not known, a total expenditure cannot be
calculated. Nonetheless, it not unreasonable to suggest that it amounts to several hundreds of million of dollars per month,
and multiple billions per year.
7. Ontario children's activity tax credit (Ontario)
A parent or
parents can claim up to $535 in eligible expenses and get back up to $53.50
back for each child under 16.
Since there are
1,892,125 children in Ontario between the ages of five and 16 (the reasonable
participating years), this represents a potential expenditure of $1,912,286,875.
8. Children’s arts credit (Federal)
Got a budding da
Vinci in your brood? Creativity pays! You’re eligible for a $500 per child credit for a variety of
artistic, cultural, recreational and developmental activities.
9. Healthy smiles Ontario (dental) (Ontario)
Healthy smiles
Ontario is a program for children 17 and under who do not have access to any
form of dental coverage. If eligible a child will get regular and dental services at no cost.
10. Student nutrition program (Ontario)
On April 7, 2014
Ontario announced the investment and old more than $32 million over the next three years to enhance existing student
nutrition programs and established 314 new breakfast and morning meal programs
in schools across Ontario.
Ontario invested
an additional $3 billion to the
student nutrition program in 2013-14, helping to create over 200 new breakfast
programs.
In the 2012-13
school year Ontario was students nutrition program provided school meals to
over 695,000 students and youth
across Ontario.
11. Transit pass credit (Federal)
Monthly and yearly passes for your dependent children up to
age 19 can be claimed. Passes for streetcars, subways, commuter trains and
local ferries count too.
12. "Stepping stones" (Ontario)
Stepping stones
is a government sponsored (paid for) program to provide up-to-date research and
information about youth development to guide the delivery of supports and
services for youth aged 12 to 25 across Ontario. It is designed to help anyone
who works with or cares for youth to identify and respond to their needs at
each stage of their development.
13. Youth opportunities (Ontario)
This program has
developed a new $5 million-a-year
granting program. It will invest in you-let, grassroots and youth focused
community-based organizations to support at-risk youth and their families.
14. Ontario’s poverty reduction program (Ontario)
The Ontario
Child benefit equivalent is intended to support children and youth in the care
of children’s aid societies by providing them with financial assistance.
By way of
examples, the Ontario Access Grant for Crown Wards covers 50 per cent of
tuition (up to $3,000 per year) for
eligible current and former Crown wards and youth leaving care, in programs of
two or more years in length, for up to four years. For eligible students in
one-year programs, the Ontario Access Grant for Crown wards covers 100 per cent of tuition to a maximum of
$3,000. The grant can be used by
students to study full-time in their first post secondary program.
100% Tuition Aid for Youth Leaving Care (Ontario)
The 100% Tuition
Aid for Youth Leaving Care program is available to current and former Crown
wards and/or youth leaving care. The program covers 100% of a student’s tuition fees to a maximum of $6,000 (i.e., 50 per cent of tuition
fees are covered through the Ontario Access Grant for Crown Wards and/or the
30% Off Ontario Tuition grant, and the remaining cost is funded by participating
institutions). The 100% Tuition Aid program is a joint initiative between the
government and participating publicly assisted colleges and universities in
Ontario and is available for up to four years of post secondary study. For the
2013-14 academic year, 21 universities and eight colleges are participating in
the program.
Cost - ?
15. Aboriginal children and youth (Ontario)
In November
2012, Ontario had more than eighty new mental health and addiction
workers. These workers will help almost 4000 aboriginal children and young
people to get faster access to culturally appropriate mental help and diction
services. Cost - ?
16. Adoption tax credit (federal)
If you incur out
of pocket expenses while adopting a child, you’re eligible for a tax credit.
Costs of up to $11,440 per
child can be covered. If the child has special needs you can claim the full
amount; otherwise, how much you save depends on how much you spend.
17. Federal child benefits and tax credits
Another
difficulty in determining what is being paid out, resides in the fact that the Governments of
Canada ("federal government") offers similar programs and/or tax
credits that either supplement or pay money into areas not covered by the provincial government programs--a sort of 'womb-to-tomb approach. Nonetheless, the payment of these comes out of the same taxpayers’
pockets.
An example of
this can be same with the federal universal Child care tax benefit that applies
to children under the age of six years, while the Ontario Child care benefit
applies to children six years and up.
It should be
noted as well, that where both levels of government offer a benefit in this
same area, the other is first deducted to avoid an outright duplication.
Nonetheless, this does not prevent one from enhancing or supplementing the other.
18. Child and youth programs sponsored by the federal
government
Available to youth 12 – 18 years old.
The Canada Child Tax
Benefit (CCTB) is a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help
them with the cost of raising children under age 18. Delivered by: Canada
Revenue Agency (CRA)
The Canada Education
Savings Grant (CESG) is money that the Government of Canada will
add to your child’s savings in a Registered
Education Savings Plan (RESP).
1.
Basic Canada Education Savings Grant
The Basic Canada Education Savings Grant will give you 20% on every dollar of the first $2,500 you save in your child’s RESP each year.
The Basic Canada Education Savings Grant will give you 20% on every dollar of the first $2,500 you save in your child’s RESP each year.
2.
Additional Canada Education Savings Grant
Depending on your net family income, you could receive an extra 10% or 20% on every dollar of the first $500 you save in your child’s RESP each year.
Depending on your net family income, you could receive an extra 10% or 20% on every dollar of the first $500 you save in your child’s RESP each year.
The Canada Learning
Bond (CLB) is $500 offered by the Government of Canada to help start saving
now for your child’s education after high school.
Plus, your child could get $100 every
year until the child turns 15 years old to a maximum of $2,000!
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) children's benefits provide
monthly payments to the dependent children of disabled or deceased CPP
contributors.
The Child Disability Benefit (CDB) is a tax-free
benefit for families who care for a child under age 18 with a severe and
prolonged impairment in mental or physical functions. Delivered by: Canada
Revenue Agency (CRA)
The Family Supplement is a feature of
Employment Insurance (EI) that provides additional benefits to low-income
families with children.
Delivered by: Service Canada on behalf
of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
Employment Insurance (EI) provides
Maternity and Parental Benefits to individuals who are pregnant, have recently
given birth, are adopting a child, or are caring for a newborn.
Delivered by: Service Canada on behalf
of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
Beginning
June 9, 2013, eligible parents who take leave from work to provide care or support to their critically ill or injured
child can receive Employment Insurance
(EI) special benefits for Parents of Critically Ill Children (PCIC).
The Junior Canadian Rangers Program offers a
variety of activities that promote traditional cultures and lifestyles to youth
living in remote and isolated communities. Delivered by: Department of National
Defence (DND)
Eligibility – Must live in remote
areas.
The Nobody's Perfect program provides parenting
education and support to parents of children five years of age and under. It is
designed to meet the needs of parents who are young, single, socially or
geographically isolated or who have low income or limited formal
education. Nobody's Perfect reaches parents less likely to access
resources or support in the community. Delivered by: Public Health Agency of
Canada (PHAC)
The
Federal Income Support for Parents of Murdered or Missing Children (PMMC) grant is an income support grant
available to applicants who have suffered a loss of income from taking time
away from work to cope with the death or disappearance of theirchild or children, as a result of a probable Criminal
Code offence.
13. Basic and Additional Canada
Education Savings Grant
Your child could receive up to $7,200
from the Government of Canada to help pay for his or her education after high
school.
The Canada Education Savings Grant is
money the government adds to your child's Registered Education Savings Plan
(RESP) to help their savings grow. After high school, your child can withdraw
the money to help pay for either full-time or part-time studies.
Your child could be eligible to
receive up to $800 from the Government of Alberta.
The Alberta Centennial Education
Savings Plan Grants is a provincial grant to help you save for your child's
education. After high school, your child can withdraw the money to help pay for
either full-time or part-time studies.
[1]
Another ‘child’ benefit for which there is no recorded cost. This program is
primarily provided by the Municipal School Board, but is obvious supplemented
by the Ontario government as well,
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