Poverty is defined differently depending on where you live - in Toronto it means… not having enough food, not having a good home, not having stability in life. Money is always an issue because it’s never available.
- 1 in 3 children live in poverty in Toronto. Think of how many children could be affected by poverty in your school or your neighbourhood.
- 41% of food bank users are children. That’s 325,390 kids that use food banks regularly every year in Canada.
- 1.2 million children and youth across Canada live in poverty. That’s 1 in every 6! (see the 2005 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada for more details)
How can we Make Poverty History?
Poverty can be eliminated but it requires citizen action to get government support. Countries like Denmark and Norway have child poverty levels below 5%. Canada is at 18%. The United Kingdom has implemented a program to halve child poverty by 2010 and eliminate it by 2020. So far, this program is hitting the expected targets. Canada should do the same. We need to:
- Raise minimum wage to a livable wage so a full-time worker is not living below the poverty line;
- Strengthen social assistance, re-training and employment programs;
- Increase government investment in affordable housing and child care;
- Extend the tuition freeze and make university & college education affordable;
- End the clawback of the child benefit supplement from families on social assistance, and increase national child benefits.
- Ensure new immigrants can get good jobs that reflect the training and experience they bring to Canada.
Child poverty is an issue that concerns our age group–it’s our duty to stand up and act on it.
What Can You Do?
- Show that you support an end to poverty: sign on to the Make Poverty History campaign and wear a white armband.
- Pass the message on: talk to 3 people about the fact that 1 in every 3 children in Toronto live in poverty and that we need to do something about it.
- Get involved: join the Campaign 2000 Youth Action Committee.