Child poverty

According to national growth figures in Canada the recession is over and recovery is well underway. But do national trends give a clear indication of the state of families, households and individuals?

Yesterday the Vanier Institute of the Family released The Current State of Canadian Family Finances 2009 Report. As part of the Family Finances series, this report discusses the financial status of Canadian families based on household income, debt, employment patterns and living expenses. The 2009 Report contains an entire section illustrating the impacts of the recession on families, stating that it will be a long time before recovery fully reaches Canadians households. Read more »

On February 10, Ottawa City Council voted to adopt a municipal poverty reduction strategy. The plan, entitled Poverty affects us all: A community approach to poverty reduction, was presented to Council by the Community and Protective Services Committee which approved the plan in January.

However, the acceptance of the entire plan was a contentious issue for several councillors. Most were in agreement with about 90 percent of the plan. The controversy came from two recommendations in particular, 14 and 15. Read more »

Check out the photos from the Dish on Dignity, an event hosted by Citizens for Public Justice, Canada Without Poverty and the Dignity for All Campaign. The Dish on Dignity brought together parliamentarians, social justice advocates and low income folks for a conversation about the reality of poverty in Canada and ways to eliminate it. Read more »

On December 9, 2009 the House of Common Standing Committee on Finance tabled its sixth report for 2009 in Parliament, A Prosperous and Sustainable Future for Canada: Needed Federal Actions. Based on approximately six months of committee consultations with a variety of organizations and individuals across Canada, including Citizens for Public Justice, this report aims to inform the government during the drafting of the 2010 budget.

Despite the cautious outlook on government spending voiced by the committee, several of the recommendations in the report call for further spending and adjustments in a variety of areas, including childcare, employment insurance, and affordable housing. Read more »

On December 14, 2009, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released its first report on the progress of the province’s poverty reduction strategy: Empowering People - Engaging Community - Enabling Success. Just two and a half years after the strategy began the results reveal significant improvement concerning levels of poverty. Read more »

Tomorrow, December 10, is Human Rights Day, when we commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This year marks the 61st anniversary.

Signed by most states, the UDHR is an important benchmark in the development of international human rights standards. The 30 articles outline the basic principles, rights, dignities and freedoms to which every person is entitled. Some of these include the right to fair and equal treatment under the law, freedom of expression and thought, and the right to an adequate standard of living. Read more »