Child Poverty

“Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit.” – Eli Khamarov

Today, nearly half the world’s 6 billion people lives on less than $2 a day. However, poverty is a reality affecting both rich and poor countries. In developed countries it is estimated that 1 in 10 children live below the poverty line.The situation in developing countries is much worse. In the year 2000 alone, 1.7 million children were needlessly lost because countries around the world failed to reduce poverty levels. • Overview and quick facts • What you need to know • How you can help • Great resources

As a result poverty has the ability to immobilize the entire development of communities by locking it in a continuing cycle of under-achievement. Poverty stricken populations, lacking access to basic education and basic needs, are vulnerable to changes in the global economy. Healthier and better educated populations on the other hand are more productive, more diverse and better able to adapt to change. In essence, populations free from poverty are free to choose their own destinies.

• Why should we care?
• Definitions: Child poverty
• Quick facts

Why we should care

“Every child deserves a chance. A kid who is living in poverty does not get a fair chance” – Free The Children

When children grow up in poverty, they pay a heavy price. Research shows that they have more illnesses, perform poorly in school, have more mental health problems, and earn less when they are adults. Research shows that for every $1 that a country invests in giving children a good start in life, the country saves $7 in costs for health and other problems that arise when kids' basic needs are not met. Helping children out of poverty is therefore morally, socially and economically productive. [top]

Defining child poverty

Child poverty is a significant lack of the basic needs required for healthy physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual development. Child poverty is also defined as a lack of opportunities (capability deprivation), a lack of control over one’s life, as social isolation and as discriminatory treatment at the hands of others.

Child poverty is characterized by a lack of access to: • Basic education • A healthy diet • Adequate health care Defining poverty: A lack of money or material possessions such that a person is unable to meet the basic needs necessary for survival. The definition of poverty varies depending on the social context and what is held to be an 'acceptable' standard of living. [top]

Quick facts

• Nearly half the world’s 6 billion people lives on less than $2 a day
• The combined wealth of the world's 200 richest people hit $1 trillion in 1999, while the combined income of 582 million people living in the 43 least developed countries is only $146 billion
• Over 650 million children live in extreme poverty, and their numbers are on the rise
• Every 3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of hunger –75% of the casualties are children
• 14 million children under the age of 5 will die this year
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What you need to know!

Background Information

“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our own institutions, great is our sin.” –Charles Darwin Find out more about child poverty. Here is some useful background information to get you up to speed on the issue. • Child poverty in Canada • Child poverty in the United States of America

Child poverty in Canada- an overview

Many people mistakenly assume that child poverty is a challenge only people in developing countries are facing. This is sadly untrue. In Canada, the situation of child poverty has gone from bad to worse. UNICEF’s report on Child Poverty in developed countries ranks Canada near the bottom for children’s well-being, at 17 out of 23 countries. This is unacceptable for a country that prides itself on being consistently chosen as the best place in the world to live.

Child poverty in Canada • Canada is one of the richest countries in the world. However, about 1,400,000 of its children live in poverty (almost one and a half million). Children of single parents and those of aboriginal descent have suffered the most. • Children are poor because they live in disadvantaged families. The way to end child poverty is to allow families the ability to support themselves in a meaningful way. The last thing a parent wants is to have their children go hungry.

• Single mothers and their children experience the worst levels of poverty. 81% of single mothers with children under the age of 7 live in poverty. Countries such as Sweden and France provide far greater help to single mothers so that they and their children do not live in poverty.
• Food banks: A U.N. Human Rights committee noted that the number of food banks in Canada grew from 75 in 1984 to 625 by 1998.
• A U.N. Human Rights Committee criticized Canada for adopting policies that have increased poverty and homelessness among many vulnerable groups (such as children and women) during a time of strong economic growth and increasing affluence.
• The federal government says that its Child Tax Benefit helps poor children. But the benefit is far too low and the poorest children are disqualified from receiving it. Children living in families receiving welfare - who are the poorest children in Canada - have the benefit taken away from them by their provincial government. This is wrong and must be ended. Apart from Newfoundland and New Brunswick, the poorest children and their families receive no help from the Child Tax Benefit.
• Children of full-time working parents make up almost 30% of poor children in Canada. Their parents do not get paid a living wage. Workers in developing countries making shoes for Nike or goods for Wal-Mart should be paid a living wage. Workers in Canada should also receive a living wage. In the United States 32 cities have passed bylaws requiring that all city contractors pay their workers a living wage. Perhaps Canadian cities and provinces should be asked to make the same commitment.
• Each province and the federal government have minimum wage laws. All workers must be paid at least the minimum wage. But, taking account of inflation, these minimum wages are 25-to-30% lower today than they were twenty years ago.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Canada has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In doing so, it is obligated to provide basic human rights to all children. The Convention, for example, obligates Canada to provide an adequate standard of living for all children.

But hundreds of thousands of Canadians are going hungry and have to go to food banks because they do not have enough to eat. It is a sad fact that almost half of the people using food banks are children.

Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms Canada's Constitution includes a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees every Canadian security of the person. People who live in poverty do not have security of the person. If they live in hunger, their health and their lives are at risk. If they are homeless, they do not have physical or mental security. Poverty means that people do not enjoy their basic human rights. [top]

Child poverty in the United States • Nearly 15 million American children live in poverty • The effects of poverty take the lives of 27 children every day • Families with children make up about 40% of the people who become homeless • Children account for 25% of the homeless population • 50% of people who become poor each year are children • Since 1975, the child poverty rate has increased by over 40% • 12 million American children have no health insurance and millions of others have inadequate insurance

• The National Center for Health Statistics found that poor children were 3.6 times more likely than more affluent children to have fair or poor health
• Poor children are 2 times more likely to die from birth defects and 5 times more likely to die from infectious diseases
• 14 million American children (30%) are hungry or at risk of hunger
• Due to cuts in programs for low-income children, 1.1 million additional children are being pushed into poverty or deeper into poverty
• Child poverty can be alleviated for $45 billion. This is less than the amount of money given in annual tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans during the 1980's and 1990's
• $1 spent on childhood immunization saves $10 in later health costs
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How you can help Speak out! "Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." – Benjamin Disraeli Here are some ideas of how you can help meet the challenge and tackle the issue of child poverty.

• Write to your prime minister or president and to your Member of Parliament or local representative. Tell your government to keep its promise to kids by taking actions to end child poverty now.
• Arrange a meeting with your Member of Parliament and ask him or her to make ending child poverty their top priority. Ask them specifically what they are going to do. Take notes so that you can meet with them at a later date and check whether they have done what they said they would.
• Speak up for children. Let your voice be heard. Insist that your government end child poverty.
• Become more informed on child poverty issues, and the ways to help confront the issue by conducting research and raising awareness.
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Great resources

The following organizations are active in combating child poverty and have many important documents and helpful research materials.

Websites:

Campaign against child poverty
Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) – Child Poverty in Canada
Child Poverty Action Group (UK)
National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP- USA)
National Anti-Poverty Organization (Canada)
UNICEF
UNICEF and ICDC report: Child Poverty in Rich Countries
United Nations Millennium Development Goals

Books:

Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids: The Tragedy and Disgrace of Poverty in Canada, by Mel Hurtig. McClelland & Stewart.
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