Campaign 2000 - Child poverty by federal riding

TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2015 /CNW/ - No riding in Canada is immune from child poverty, according to the latest research from Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty in Canada. A striking new series of maps demonstrates that child and family poverty persists in every riding from coast to coast to coast.  With over 1.3 million children living in poverty in Canada, the issue affects all Canadians and must be addressed by all parties before election day on October 19^th. The maps can be viewed via www.campaign2000.ca.

"On the eve of Thanksgiving, the maps are an unsettling reminder of Canada's child poverty epidemic," notes Anita Khanna, national coordinator of Campaign 2000. "The mapping reveals 147 ridings with child poverty rates higher than 19%, the national average.  Canada's shameful levels of poverty among Indigenous children are also evident. Churchill Manitoba, where 65% of children live in poverty, has the deplorable distinction of being the federal riding with the highest rate in Canada."

All federal parties have pledged to eliminate child poverty three times - in 1989, 2009 and most recently in February 2015; but there has been no sustained or significant reduction in child and family poverty since 1989.  The federal government's lack of significant action against child poverty is out of step with Canadians' concerns about poverty.  This week, countless communities are organizing food drives and making generous donations to assist local families. Many municipal, regional, provincial and territorial governments have prioritized poverty reduction across the country.  The time has come for federal politicians to exercise leadership and commit to concrete action against child poverty in the next mandate. 

"Child poverty has been virtually ignored through the election despite the harsh realities faced by children and families living in the communities chosen for every campaign stop.  In this last leg of the campaign, each party needs to address the issue. We urge all parties to respond immediately to the crisis with a clear action plan to end child poverty for good," added Khanna. 

Trends & Background

• This is the first time that child poverty rates have been mapped by riding at the national level.
• The interactive maps present a snapshot of child poverty rates from 2013, the most recent data available from Statistics Canada. The child poverty rates are mapped according to 2013's 308 riding boundaries, the most recent available data. The data source is Statistics Canada 2013 Taxfile (T1FF), Table 18. The new 338 ridings have been superimposed on the 2013 riding boundaries and can be accessed in PDF form at www.campaign2000.ca.
• The mapped ridings are divided into 4 ranges. The first range includes ridings with child poverty rates below 10%, the second is 10-20%, the third 20-30% and the fourth 30% and above.
• The first range contains 27 ridings; the lowest child poverty rate is in Lotbinière - Chutes-De-La-Chaudière Quebec. 21 ridings are located in Quebec, 2 are in Alberta and 4 are in Ontario.
• The second range has 149 ridings, the third has 99 ridings and both consist of a cross section of the country's ridings. Seventeen of the ridings in the second range have child poverty rates above the national average of 19%.
• The fourth range has 29 ridings, spanning Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut and Nova Scotia. Eight Toronto ridings have child poverty rates above 30%.
• Cross referencing the data with National Household Survey's findings reveals that marginalized children and families are over-represented in the fourth range when compared with the first. For example, 9.1% of the families in the first range are immigrants compared to 33% of those in the fourth range. The same trend appears among visible minorities and Indigenous children.

Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, cross-Canada coalition of over 120 organizations committed to ending child and family poverty in Canada. www.campaign2000.ca

The remaining maps are available through www.campaign2000.ca.

SOURCE Campaign 2000

Image with caption: "Map - Child Poverty in the GTA by Federal Riding (CNW Group/Campaign 2000)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151008_C4816_PHOTO_EN_516939.jpg

Image with caption: "Map - Child Poverty by Federal Riding Prairies (CNW Group/Campaign 2000)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151008_C4816_PHOTO_EN_516941.jpg

Image with caption: "Map - Child Poverty by Federal Riding Atlantic provinces (CNW Group/Campaign 2000)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151008_C4816_PHOTO_EN_516944.jpg

Media Inquiries: Anita Khanna at 416-788-3439 or Liyu Guo at 416 624-1885; National/Regional spokespeople with lived experience are available for comment through our national partners network; Francophone spokesperson: Hélène C. Ménard, Centre d'éducation financière EBO, at 613-746-0400, poste : 204