Poverty at a Glance...

"Poverty is a lot like war. It takes prisoners and victims and it kills. The difference is that death is slow and is blamed on the individual." Ottawa Council for Low Income Support Services

Poverty and Health

• Poor children fare worse in almost every health indicator than their better-off counter parts.

• The infant death rate is almost twice as high in the poorest neighbourhoods as in the richest.

• Poor families are at higher risk for having low birth weight babies (under 5.5 pounds or 2 500 grams) a condition which increases the likelihood of death during infancy and lifelongdisabilities. In 1986, the low birth weight rate was 1.4 times higher in the poorest neighbourhoods than in the richest.

• Poor children and youth are more likely to die from injuries. In 1986 death rates due toinjuries were highest in the poorneighbourhoods (22.2/100,000) and lowest for children and youth living in middle-income neighbourhoods (15.5/100,000).

• Children and youth from families that receive benefits are more likely to have chronic health problems, visit a hospital emergency room or be admitted to hospital than children fromIncome Support Services families not receiving benefits.

• According to a 1983 Ontario child health study, the prevalence of psychiatric disordersand poor school performance in children on family benefits is double the reported rate infamilies not receiving family benefits.
  

The Canadian Situation

• In 1991, over 1.2 million children in Canada live in poverty. Eighteen percent of allchildren under age 18 are poor; 21% of all children under age 7 are poor.

• From 1981 to 1991, the poverty rates of children under 7 years of age increased in eight provinces. In this period, the child poverty rate doubled in Manitoba and almost tripled in Alberta. Only New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have seen slight declines in the poverty rate of children under age 7.

• Among the top seven industrialized countries, Canada has the third highest rate of povertyfor all households with children (16%). For Canadian lone-parent households the poverty rate was 45%, surpassed only by the United States at 53%.
  

Women and Single Parent Families

• In a single-parent family headed by a woman the risk of poverty for a child aged 7 years oryounger was almost eight times greater than for a child in a two-parent family.

• Almost all, (89%) children of single mothers who have never married are growing up inpoverty compared with 13% for children of two-parent families.
  

Income Inequality

• Economically, today's young families with children are worse off than were those of theirparents' generation. In 1976, a single parent with one child needed to work 41 hours a week at minimum wage to bring the family up to the poverty line; in 1993, the hours increased to 73 hours per week.

• The average poor couple with children had income amounting to less than 70% of the poverty line. They would require $8,000 more to bring their income up to the poverty line.

• The wealthiest Canadian families are receiving a larger share of each dollar. In 1991, thewealthiest 20% of the families received 40 cents of every dollar of total family incomeleaving 60 cents to be shared among the remaining 80% of families in Canada. The poorest 20% of the families received only 6cents out of every dollar of total family income.
  

Poverty is measured by using Statistics Canada's Low Income Cut-Offs (LICO)

Adapted from
The Health of Canada's Children: A CICH Profile, 2nd Edition

This site was initiated by the Canadian Child Care Federation and produced under contract to Industry Canada.

Ce site a été développé par la Fédération canadienne des services de garde à l'enfance et produit avec l'aide de Industrie Canada.

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