12PM Is Canada Is Failing Its Poor?
Posted Nov 25, 2011 10:41:11 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
12:00 Canada is accused of still failing its poor. It has been more than 20 years since the House of Commons unanimously resolved to end child poverty by 2000, but a national advocacy group says it’s shocked by how little progress has been made. While the economy has more than doubled in size since that 1989 resolution, the incomes of Canada’s poorest families have stagnated, Campaign 2000 says in its 20th annual report card on child and family poverty released Wednesday. The group says 639,000 children still live in poverty in Canada — one in every 10 children. Among aboriginal children, the rate is one in four. Above-average poverty rates are also seen among children of immigrants and among children with a disability, as a parent frequently has to stay home to look after the child. More than 323,000 children also belong to families that rely on food banks, the report says. Guest: Alizeh Hussain, Interim Social Reform/ Ontario Campaign 2000 Coordinator 12:30 Michelle and Adele discuss whether toddlers as young as two years old should be in school.
