Child poverty is rapidly increasing in Canada, and the Liberal government’s Canada Child Benefit has lost its power to “sustain poverty reduction” and reduce income inequality, says a new report from Campaign 2000.
According to the anti-poverty organization’s annual report on child and family poverty in Canada, 1.4 million children are currently living in poverty across the country, and an additional 360,000 children have fallen into poverty in the past two years. It turned out that it was falling.
“This year’s report card was pretty dire, even for those of us who track this issue every day,” Leila Sarangi, national director of Campaign 2000, said in Ottawa on Tuesday. “We were shocked to see this number.”
Campaign 2000 has published an annual report on poverty since 1991. This year’s report examines changes from 2021 to 2022 and concludes that “child poverty increased in all states and territories” during this period.
“The 2020-2021 national child poverty rate rose sharply for the first time in a decade, appearing to mark a reversal of the downward trend that began in 2015,” the report said.
“Most worryingly, child poverty increased by 2.5 percentage points from 2021 to 2022, the largest annual increase.” [since 2000]. The federal government’s strategies to reduce poverty are failing children, families, and society as a whole. ”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government introduced the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) in its first budget. The CCB restructured multiple payments and tax credits into a single benefit, promising that nine out of 10 households would be better off.
In February 2017, Statistics Canada reported that the number of people living below the poverty line decreased from 4.238 million in 2015, when the Liberal government was in the majority, to 3.412 million in 2017. Reported. The number of children living in poverty fell from 900,000 to 622,000 in 2017. Same period.
However, Campaign 2000 said the CCB is losing its effectiveness and the gains made by the Trudeau government are being eroded by the rising cost of living.
canada child allowance
“On average, [the CCB] Reduced child poverty by 8.8 percentage points per year. “Child poverty decreased by 7.8 percentage points in 2022, the lowest decline on record,” the report said.
According to Canadian statistical data used in Campaign 2000When the Liberals came to power, 20.9 per cent of children under the age of 18 lived in poverty in Canada.
Over the next five years, the proportion gradually decreased, first reaching 19.6 percent in 2016, then 18.6 percent in 2017, and 18.2 percent and 17.7 percent in the following two years. The child poverty rate then dropped significantly to 13.5% in 2020, when the federal government rolled out pandemic relief programs.
However, since pandemic benefits stopped and inflation began to rise, child and family poverty has increased, first reaching 15.6% in 2021 and then 18.1% in 2022.
This rate is still nearly 3 percentage points lower than when the Liberals took power, but the 2000 campaign is concerned that the rate is now trending upward again.
The number of children under 18 living in poverty was higher than the national average of 18.1% in nine of the 13 states and territories, according to the anti-poverty group’s report card. This rate was lower than the average for Quebec, British Columbia, P.E.I., and Yukon.
Nunavut had the highest child poverty rate in the country in 2022 at 41.8%, followed closely by Manitoba at 27.1% and Saskatchewan at 26.7%.
Yukon and Quebec each had the lowest child poverty rates in the country at 12 per cent, followed by British Columbia at 16.7 per cent and P.E.I. at 16.8 per cent.
The provinces with the largest increases in poverty rates for children under six from 2021 to 2022 were Newfoundland and Labrador (up 4%), Nova Scotia (up 3.8%), and Ontario and New Brunswick (up 3.8%). % increase). Increased by 3.7%.
The provinces with the largest increases in poverty rates for all children under 18 were Ontario at 3.5 per cent, Nova Scotia at 3.3 per cent and New Brunswick at 3.2 per cent.
The report also examines how poverty affects children from different family backgrounds, finding that of the more than 52,000 children who do not live with their families, 99 percent live in poverty. He revealed that he is living.
The report also found that nearly one in two children (45%) in single-parent families live in poverty, while families surveyed (defined as married couples or couples living together) It also found that only 10% of children living in the United States lived in poverty. By 2022, they will fall into poverty.
Sarangi said the federal government needs to strengthen the CCB and pursue more aggressive poverty reduction strategies.
She also wants the federal government to stop forcing low-income households to repay pandemic emergency benefits.
“Federal courts are full of people appealing decisions, many with debts of tens of thousands of dollars…We have to pay that debt and stop going after low-income families,” Sarangi said. Ta.
Genevieve Lemaire, press secretary for Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Suds, told CBC News the federal government is working to combat child poverty through a national daycare and dental program and CCBs. .
“There is still much work to do to reduce poverty for Canadians, including children,” Lemaire said. “We are committed to doing it to the best of our ability.
“We will not stop supporting Canadians until everyone in this country feels the economic relief they need and deserve and can live with dignity.”
