According to Campaign 2000, child poverty in Canada remains a major issue.

On Tuesday, Campaign 2000 released its annual report on child poverty in Canada, and propounded an alarming statistic. According to the organization’s estimates, ten per cent of Canadian kids currently live in poverty. Among First Nations children, this figure is even more disturbing: one in four.

The statistics represent a lack of progress over the last 20 years, according to Campaign 2000, in terms of combating child poverty in Canada.

The report also mentions that the disparity between rich and poor appears to be widening in our country, as since 1989, the average income of families with children in the wealthiest tenth of the population increased by 33 per cent compared to an increase of just 16 per cent for those in the poorest tenth of the population.

Campaign 2000 places particular emphasis within the report on the plight of Canada’s Aboriginal people, stating that the Canadian Aboriginal population has increased by 45 per cent since 1996, compared to eight per cent in the non-Aboriginal population. Meanwhile, Aboriginal people face higher rates of unemployment and sub-standard living conditions than their non-Aboriginal counterparts.
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