Poor wages, working conditions and lack of affordable housing all contribute to child poverty in Canada. Women, Aboriginals, immigrants and minorities are affected most.
Nearly one person in six lives in poverty in Canada. Aboriginal people are disproportionately affected and one in every four from aboriginal communities lives in poverty. Much of their housing is also substandard and they tend to be more overcrowded than the rest of Canada. Funding for services and programs has been capped for the last ten years which contributes to making their poverty levels worse.
Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations said, “This is discrimination, and it’s racist. We are held hostage and many First Nations people feel they are second class citizens in this country, our homeland. We have been denied the right to our land and traditional territories. We want to be as others are - independent and making a contribution to our society. We want to stand as equals.”
- The rate of poverty in Canada has been stalled at 17 to 18% for the last five years.
- The housing crisis in Canada is growing and 1.5 million people need housing assistance. Many people are on waiting lists for affordable housing from 5 to 12 years. Two out of every three families living in poverty need affordable housing.
- Statistically, women, immigrant families and visible minority groups have higher rates of poverty. They are also found in jobs with the worst wages and working conditions. Many of these low paying jobs are temporary and part time so are not secure. Some labor laws do not apply to these temporary jobs. This increases the likelihood of poor or unsafe working conditions and low wages.
- Temporary workers are also not usually able to start a union because of lack of unity and short periods of employment. Labor laws that do apply are frequently not enforced and inspections are sporadic. Complaints are rarely made until the period of employment is over. Stronger enforcement of labor laws are needed to ensure a safer work environment and a guarantee of being paid a fair wage. This would help lower the present poverty rate.
- Just because people are getting off social assistance does not mean they’re leaving poverty behind them because they’re still getting stuck in low paying jobs with poor working conditions.
Poverty Statistics for women, immigrants and minorities:
- Nearly one half of female parent led families live in poverty.
- 47% of immigrant families live in poverty
- 32% of visible minority groups live in poverty
Ways Canada can take action:
- Raise the Canada Child Tax Benefit or start a new benefit.
- Increase the minimum wage to $10.00 an hour. $10.00 an hour would at least ensure that a single parent with one child would reach the poverty line.
- Invest in an affordable housing and child care strategy.
Sources: Aboriginal Leader Addresses Union About First Nation Poverty (April 17th, 2007)
Campaign 2000- End Child Poverty in Canada
“Campaign 2000 continues to call for a long-term, sustained and well financed strategy to reduce child and family poverty. This should include: federal funding increases to reach $5 billion per year by 2010 for a national system of high quality early learning and child care; an affordable housing strategy to build 25,000 new affordable units annually; increased child benefits to a maximum of $5,100 per child (indexed); a dedicated urban aboriginal strategy; and a labour market strategy to ensure more good jobs at living wages with better integration of skilled immigrants.”
