Campaign 2000 Releases Report Cards on Child Poverty

This morning, Campaign 2000 released its 2008 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada. The report card revealed that the child poverty rate in our country is almost the same as it was nineteen years ago when Parliament passed a unanimous resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000.

Joe Gunn, Executive Director of CPJ, participated in the launch of the Report Cards. “Support for poverty reduction is growing across the country,” he told media at the press conference this morning. “Several provinces are implementing poverty reduction strategies. We need the federal government to take leadership too.”

While economic growth has been strong in Canada over the last decade, rates of child poverty have remained virtually unchanged. The report also finds that almost half of children living in poverty belong to families in which at least one parent works full-time. A lack of a living wage leaves many working families in Canada poor.

With the current economic recession, even more families are facing the risk of falling into poverty. The creation of a federal poverty reduction strategy by the government would be a significant step towards effectively addressing the issue of poverty and ensuring we live in a society that cares for its most vulnerable.

In addition to the National Report Card, Campaign 2000 regional partners have released Report Cards on Child and Family Poverty in Canada in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick. In addition, Nova Scotia released a factsheet on child and family poverty this year.

Read more in CPJ's press release.