Largely lost amidst last week’s pundit analysis of Provincial Budget 2015 was recognition of commitments that indicate the needs of marginalized women and their families will – at last – be seen and addressed.

Budget 2015 Supporting jobs, Supporting Families. The Alberta Way included a number of positive changes in government-funded programs measures that will lead to brighter futures.

Within the department of Human Services, which saw an overall budget increase of 4.5 per cent, these include:

  • Increased investment in women’s shelters (including YWCA Sheriff King Home) to hire outreach and child & youth counselors. These outreach counselors will be focused on supporting women experiencing abuse to find safety in the community.
  • New Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) funding, in partnership with municipalities, for preventive social services such as parenting programs
  • Creation of a new Alberta Child Benefit starting in August 2016 that will target quarterly financial assistance to 235,000 children living in low income families
  • Additional support for Child Intervention Services for the nearly 16,000 children in Alberta needing support to live safely

We were also heartened to hear of planned transformation of Alberta’s approach to child care with $100million in new investment planned in the coming two years. We look forward to an opportunity to ensure the needs of all mothers and children are considered in the planning of affordable, high quality care.

These changes, when seen alongside the creation of the Ministry for Status of Women and government strategic plan commitments to social economic well being, Indigenous communities and gender equality, all give us hope.

And while we are gratified to see such powerful indicators of change, two critical needs were not addressed: benefits income and affordable housing.

The overly complex approach to direct government benefits – such as Income Support and Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped – remains untouched. A single mother with two children (aged 10 to 13) can expect to receive just $1,030 per month in welfare benefits, woefully insufficient to meet their basic needs. A woman with no children received just $607 per month. To fill the gaps between these ludicrous benefit levels and reality, past governments have created layer upon layer of subsidies, supplements, targeted benefits and social programs. Rather than biting into the real problem – ensuring each man, woman and child have the resources necessary to live with dignity – benefits programs and the need for adjustment has been ignored: this must stop.

Budget 2015 included no apparent investment in the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing, the single most critical need expressed by women accessing support from the YWCA.

With some of the as-yet unallocated $4.4Billion included in the Capital Plan, this government – together with the new Federal government which has made laudable commitments in this area – must prioritize building places for low-income people to live.

This budget has, on the whole, done an admirable job of balancing structural fiscal challenges with targeted programs to meet urgent needs and we’re encouraged that, for many people long ignored, there may be light on the horizon.