Child poverty in Nova Scotia spiked from 2021 to 2022: report
A silhouette against the sky of a man holding a child. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Charlie Riedel
Child poverty is on the rise in Nova Scotia, according to a newly released report.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released its annual report card on child and family poverty in the province on Tuesday.
The report says the child poverty rate in the province rose from 20.5 per cent in 2021 to 23.8 per cent in 2022 – an increase of 16 per cent. It’s the highest single-year increase in the 35 years since the federal government’s promise to eradicate the issue.
Nova Scotia continues to have highest child poverty rate in Atlantic Canada and now ranks fifth highest in the country.
Last year, the centre reported that child poverty dropped dramatically in the province in 2020 due to pandemic financial assistance.
“The choice to return to insufficient support by 2022 negated all progress – meaning the rise in child poverty was by design and predictable. We see the outcome in the fact that 71,000 children are living in food insecure families in Nova Scotia – the highest number on record. The health burden on children is significant and long lasting,” said Dr. Lesley Frank, the report’s co-author.
“We applaud the government for indexing income assistance rates to inflation, and we urge them to go further and raise the base rates ensuring that these families have enough income to provide for what their children need,” said Christine Saulnier, the Nova Scotia director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The 2024 report says child poverty rates in the province are highest in Digby, Annapolis County and Cape Breton.
It says a “multi-pronged and sustained approach” is needed to end child poverty in Nova Scotia. Recommendations include implementing a poverty elimination plan, investments in public services and improvements to income supports.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
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