No quick fix for child poverty: Despite progress, Nanaimo's poverty rate continues to surpass B.C. average
Daily News
June 23, 2010
By Dustin Walker

Nita Elliot is responsible for five children -- six if you include the teenaged girl she took in -- and her family is just scraping by.

"You get only so much for welfare and family allowance and you just have to make your ends meet one way or another, but it just doesn't work," said the Nanaimo resident, whose kids range in age from two months to 15 years old….

Hundreds of other families in Nanaimo face similar situations. The percentage of children under 19 who are living in families that collect income assistance in the Nanaimo Regional District was at 4.7% last March, up from 4.2% in 2009 and 3.2% in 2008, provincial statistics show.

The number is even higher for Nanaimo alone at 5.5% last March, compared to the provincial average of 2.9% for the same time period.

Nanaimo has historically struggled with higher-than-average welfare rates in general and, although progress has been made over the years, the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district still ranks among the highest in the province in terms of poverty-stricken students.

According to a recent report by First Call, a child and youth-advocacy group in B.C., the provincial child-poverty rate has come down from 13% of all children in 2007 to 10.4% in 2008. However, B.C. still has the highest child poverty rate in Canada, according to the study, which was based on the Statistics Canada report Income of Canadians 2008.

Initiatives by the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation, an independent charity that raises money and awareness for vulnerable students, has helped countless local students from low-income families. However, when school is finished for the summer much of the support some students have come to rely on will go with it.

"We've got kids that leave our schools on Friday and they haven't eaten until they come back on Monday. They don't eat all weekend," said foundation executive director Erin van Steen.

Meal programs and a "student support fund" are just a few of the resources that students from low-income families won't have access to their summer breaks.

"It's unfortunate, but when those schools close for two months of the year a lot of our kids are in trouble," said Steen….

In addition to free lunch or breakfast programs for low-income students some schools have programs set up to get basic donated items to students…..

Mike Counsell, the director of Loaves and Fishes food bank, said a greater proportion of the food they provide goes to children in the summer because the school system isn't there for support….

Last month, about 350 families were helped by the food bank and about 600 children got food, said Counsell. The food bank helped about 1,600 people in total last month.

Nanaimo's relatively high teen pregnancy rate is likely one factor behind child poverty issues in Nanaimo.

The city has a teen pregnancy rate of 31.7 per 1,000 females for 2005-2007 compared to the provincial rate of 27.6, provincial data shows. However, teen pregnancy live birth rates have dropped in Nanaimo 27% from 1997 to 2007.

Amy Collum, executive director with Little Ferns Learning Centre, said that although you can't always link teen pregnancy to poverty, "it is absolutely a factor."

The non-profit day care centre, located at John Barsby Secondary School, has 14 people in its Young Parent Program but just five of the parents are stable with their family supporting them.

A holistic approach needs to be taken when addressing child poverty, says Anne Spilker, executive director of the Haven Society.

"Children can't exist on their own, they live in families. So if we're not supporting the families, then the kids aren't getting anything," she said.

She points out that housing is major barrier for children to have a supportive environment; it's easier for a single person to find an affordable place than a large family. Child care and other costs also become challenges, especially in the summer.