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More than half a million people in B.C. live in poverty, nearly a quarter of them children whose families struggle every day to provide the basics of life: nutritious food, warm clothing and safe shelter.

The solution to improving the lives of these families is not as simple as: “Get a job.” That’s because a significant number of impoverished British Columbians are already working.

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They are the working poor — people who report to their bosses each day, pay taxes, and yet don’t have enough income to cover all their bills.

A family of four is impoverished, according to Statistics Canada, if it has an annual after-tax income of $41,866 or less, including all money from government programs such as the federal child benefit payment.

B.C. has the highest rate of working poor in the country, who have a median income of just $15,000. Of Canada’s largest cities, Vancouver was second-worst with more than 100,000 low-income earners, or nearly one in 10 of the working-age population.