Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles on the state of Canadian children and families.
Child poverty rates have been cut by almost half since 1996. That represents a solid incremental change for the better. It comes about not by accident but by focusing on the family as a building block of Canadian society. In 2011-12, the federal government is providing over $6 billion in support of early childhood development and child care through transfers to the provinces and territories.
This is the biggest investment of its kind in Canadian history.
The Canada child tax benefit, the national child benefit supplement, the universal child care benefit and the child tax credit all support families with children. About 3.3 million families with 5.8 million children receive the Canada child tax benefit. This includes over 1.5 million families with 2.7 million children who receive the national child benefit supplement.
The universal child care benefit provides Canadian families with $100 a month for every child under the age of six to assist in the cost of whatever form of child care they choose. This benefit provides over $2.6 billion annually to 1.5 million families for over 2 million children.
This direct financial support enables parents to choose the child care option that best meets their family's needs. It is available to all parents, whether they are part of the income-earning labour force or whether they stay home with their kids, whether they live in a small town, a rural community or an urban centre.
For the average family the universal child care benefit, together with the child care expense deduction, offset well over one third of the costs of non-parental child care. The combined impact of these measures is even greater for single parent families. The universal child care benefit has lifted an estimated 24,000 families with about 55,000 children out of low income.
Our government is committed to supporting Canadian families and individuals facing a variety of circumstances. Every action we have taken is to help Canadians and their families become independent and to help them contribute to the economy and their communities. Our investments reflect this commitment and we will continue to make investments that make positive differences in the lives of Canadians and their families.