1 in 9 Canadian kids still live in poverty: Report
Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service
November 21, 2008

OTTAWA - Despite a promise made nearly 20 years ago by Parliament to eradicate child poverty by 2000, about one in nine Canadian children still lives in poverty, according to a report released Friday, and advocates fear that rate will worsen because of the current economic downturn.

In its 2008 report card on child and family poverty, Campaign 2000 found that 760,000 children are growing up in a low-income family. The report used the latest statistics available which are from 2006 and low income is defined as a two-person family with a total income of $21,600 after taxes.

British Columbia had the highest provincial child poverty rate despite its strong economic growth, the report said.

Laurel Rothman, head of Campaign 2000, a coalition of 120 organizations, called on the federal government to implement a national poverty reduction strategy.

… Among the report's recommendations: enhance the child benefit for low-income families to $5,100 a year per child; expand the employment insurance program; establish a federal minimum wage of $10 per hour; create a national housing program; and establish a national child-care system that is affordable and easily available.

"One of the smartest investments we can make now is to launch a national child-care program," said Andrew Jackson, social and economic policy director of the Canadian Labour Congress. Jackson said it would create thousands of jobs and help families climb out of poverty.

"That's an investment that absolutely makes sense going into a recession, not the kind of investment we should be deferring."