In an unusual pairing, the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce is teaming up with the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg to urge the province's NDP government to raise welfare rates.

After a year of talks with anti-poverty groups, chamber president Graham Starmer has concluded the money welfare recipients receive to pay for shelter falls well below what they need.

Social assistance recipients have to dip into other funds because their shelter rates haven't kept pace with inflation, he said.

"We've suggested that the shelter rates be increased by 10 per cent a year for the next three years to sort of put them into shooting distance of affordability," he said.

People aren't able to benefit from the economy if they are worried about keeping a roof over their heads, and unaffordable housing leads to other social problems, he said.

"You steal from Peter to pay Paul," he said. "You don't have great accommodation, so the kids go out on the street. I mean, there's a whole variable of things that ripple out of lack of housing."

Shelter assistance rates have not increased since 1993, while Manitoba rent increase guidelines have gone up 19 per cent in the same period, the council says in its ongoing "Raise the Rates" campaign.

Welfare rates for a single person who is considered employable have increased only $20 since 1992 to $466 per month: $271 for shelter and $195 for all other living expenses, the council said.

The group estimates 60,000 Manitobans use Employment and Income Assistance as their major source of income.