Child poverty stats virtually unchanged in NS
Posted Nov 26, 2013 10:46:16 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The number of children facing poverty in Nova Scotia has seen little reduction in more than 20 years according to a report card done by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives.
The report found 29,000 kids are still living in poverty, even though the federal government promised to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000.
The report shows some troubling trends, said Christine Saulnier, the Nova Scotia Director of the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives.
“Forty per cent of the children living in poverty in Nova Scotia have at least one full time income earner living in this household,” said Saulnier. “That’s an increasing trend we’re seeing and I know it’s reflected again in our food bank numbers that we’re seeing.”
Saulnier said the report recommends a provincial program for affordable child care and housing could help alleviate the financial burden on these struggling families.
She said governments need to step up here and said an increase in wages is desperately needed.
