It says the Province has the highest child poverty rate compared to the rest of the provinces at 29%.
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Sid Frankel, one of the report’s authors, says more children in Manitoba are slipping into poverty despite a provincial strategy introduced in 2009.
Winnipeg Harvest and the University of Manitoba have released their report card on child poverty.
“With a new federal government intent on developing a Canadian poverty reduction strategy that is to be aligned with provincial strategies, it’s time for B.C.to join the other provinces and develop a provincial poverty reduction plan”.
First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition says one in five children in this province, or 20.4 per cent, live in poverty, topping the national child poverty rate of 19 per cent.
“Poverty is the major barrier preventing far too many children in our country from reaching their true potential”. Here is a breakdown of the poverty line for each family, which relies on the amount of annual after-tax income, and the number of parents and children.
The report says almost half of Aboriginal children in the province live in poverty, based on 2006 census data.
The highest rate of poverty was in the Central Coast Regional District, where 50.6 per cent of all children live in poverty.
78% of all Metro Vancouver census tracts had at least 100 poor children living in them, and half of all Metro Vancouver municipalities had census tracts with child poverty rates of 20% or higher.
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Policy recommendations in the report include adopting a s $10-a-day subsidized child care plan, increasing and indexing the minimum wage and welfare rates, expanding EI benefits and eligibility, and increasing affordable housing options for families.
