The National Coalition says it will take 54 years to end child poverty at the current rate of improvement
The National coalition for Children and Families says Canada’s mission to end child poverty has stalled during the COVID19 pandemic, and the group calls on the new federal government to take strong action. more decisive in the protection of children.
A new report from the Campaign 2000 team shows that more than 1.3 million Canadian children, or 17.7%, live below the poverty line used by Statistics Canada.
“This is a sizable number of children who suffer the harms and effects of skipping meals, not having the right clothes, and parents working long hours,” said Leila Sarnagi, the Campaign 2000 national director.
More than 120 members, taking its name from a 1989 House resolution that aimed to end child poverty by 2000.
The report released on Wednesday also found that low-income single-parent families are now farther from the poverty line than at any point since 2012. The average for these two-child families $13,262 to reach the poverty line. The gap was $9,612 in 2015.
The poverty line used in the report is known as a measure of after-tax low income, defined by Statistics Canada as 50% of median household income in Canada.
The report is based on the latest available tax data, dating from 2019.
Sarnagi, said the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could mean that child poverty has worsened since then.
“We think it’s going to be worse, that it’s going to show us worse outcomes and higher poverty rates during the pandemic,” she said.
The highest percentage of children in poverty in Canada is found in Nunavut at 34.4%. Manitoba, at 28.4%, is the highest of all the provinces.
Read More: Ottawa neglecting its mission to eradicate childhood poverty, new report warns | CBC News
