More than two decades after a unanimous House of Common resolution to eradicate child poverty by 2000, Canadian families are still waiting for Ottawa to ensure economic security for all children across the country.
According to Revisiting Family Security in Insecure Times, Campaign 2000’s 20th Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, the federal government continues to fail in this commitment. The number of children living in poverty has only decreased by 20 per cent in 20 years. With 639,000 children still living under the poverty line, the report card says that proactive social policies must be implemented immediately to avoid an increase in the depth and rate of poverty in this country.
Among the discouraging statistics in the report card:
· one in 10 Canadian children overall still lives in poverty.
· one in four First Nations children lives in poverty.
· 38 per cent of Canadians using food banks are younger than 18.
· One in four households pays more than 30 per cent of its income on housing.
· Fewer than one in five children ages 12 and under has access to regulated child care.
· 750,000 children under age 15 live in housing that is unaffordable, substandard, overcrowded or all three.
For Anglican reaction to this report and an update on Anglican response to poverty in Canada, see the January issue of the Anglican Journal.
