Willful Neglect?
Canada has now passed the 30-year mark since the all-party resolution in the House of Commons to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000. In Nova Scotia, there is a widening gap between the national child poverty rate and the province’s child poverty rate. While child poverty is anything but eradicated in Canada, it remains an even more looming problem in Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia has the third-highest provincial child poverty rate in Canada, and the highest rate in Atlantic Canada, a consistent ranking over the last several years (using the CFLIM-AT). Using Canada’s official poverty line (the Market Basket Measure), Nova Scotia has the highest rate of child poverty (14.8%).
This report provides an overview of child poverty rates within Nova Scotia and child poverty rates for different population groups within the province and includes a list of recommendations for the Nova Scotia government to end child and family poverty.
About the authors
Laura Fisher
Lesley Frank
Christine Saulnier
Christine Saulnier (she/her) is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia. She has a doctorate in Political Science from York University. She leads the living wage calculations for communities across Atlantic Canada and serves as a co-author of the annual child and family poverty report cards for Nova Scotia. She has written extensively, and given commentary on a range of other public policy issues including fiscal policy, labour markets, and child care policy. She serves on the Steering Committee of Child Care Now Nova Scotia, and Campaign 2000 (national coalition to end child and family poverty). She served on the Board of the NS Health Coalition and Adsum for 10 years.