Press Room

Child Poverty
by Z Sonia Worotynec

Child poverty is a topic of concern to many child care professionals. A number of community groups have been formed to respond to the tragedy of child poverty. Visiting the organizations' sites will provide a solid grounding of the issues as well as offer you some strategies to inspire action on behalf of the many children living in poverty in Canada today.

Government of Canada Social Union Initiative
Http://socialunion.gc.ca

The federal government’s response to child poverty is addressed under an umbrella initiative known as the “Social Union.” The Social Union is the federal government’s social policy and program renewal initiative and contains within it a number of programs related to healthy child development, including one designed to combat child poverty called the National Child Benefit (NCB). This site provides information about the federal-provincial National Child Benefit and includes fact sheets, press releases and details about provincial-territorial contributions, performance measures of the NCB and other official documents and reports. The site is bilingual.

PovNet
www.povnet.web.net/

This British Columbia site -- PovNet -- was developed as a resource for community groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work. PovNet is a coalition of several province-wide organizations including the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities. PovNet provides information about welfare and housing laws, resources in British Columbia and links to current anti-poverty issues. It also maintains links to other anti-poverty organizations and resources across Canada and internationally.

National Anti-Poverty Organization
www.napo-onap.ca/

National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO) is a non-governmental, non-partisan advocacy organization of low-income Canadians and others concerned about issues affecting poor people. The website provides accessible information about poverty and its impacts through postings such as "Poverty Quiz," newsletters and current research. The site also includes resources for individuals to use in their community’s fight against poverty. The site is bilingual.

Campaign 2000
www.campaign2000.ca/
The Campaign 2000 coalition of groups and organizations was established in response to the November 24, 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. Campaign 2000 is a large coalition of national and provincial/territorial groups and organizations. The website is extensive with links to many other resources including annual report cards detailing Canada’s progress in the battle to end child poverty in each province and territory. Report cards for provinces/territories are bilingual.

First Call
www.sunnyhill.bc.ca/first_call/

First Call refers to the belief that children and youth should have "first call" on resources, as promoted within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. The BC First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition is a coalition of provincial organizations and community-based coalitions that share the principle of first call. The website addresses the issue of child poverty and provides information about local, provincial and national activities in support of first call for children.

The Progress of Canada’s Children
www.ccsd.ca/pcc98/pcc98.htm

The Progress of Canada's Children is an annual publication of the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). The CCSD analyzes existing data and conducts original research to examine and report on the social and economic well-being of Canada’s children. The website offers an overview of the annual reports and includes ordering information. The site is bilingual.

The CCSD site offers a wealth of information: poverty lines and how they have been calculated from 1993-97; historical child poverty rates from 1990-96 by province; a series of presentation slides entitled “Child Poverty in Canada” given by CCSD President David Ross, and much more. If you’re doing research on child poverty in Canada, I recommend visiting the Statistics and Information page at the CCSD site at www.ccsd.ca/facts.html.

Campaign Against Child Poverty
http://www.childpoverty.com

Individuals and groups from social justice, child care, child advocacy, faith communities, education, health and community-based organizations, the corporate sector and labour organizations have come together in this national, non-partisan coalition to combat child poverty. The Campaign Against Child Poverty (CACP) undertakes public education activities in an effort to raise public awareness about child poverty. CACP wants children’s issues to have a prominent place in the national agenda and calls for restored and increased funding for children living in poverty. This bilingual website offers information about child poverty and reports on activities of the CACP; it includes resources for individuals fighting child poverty in their communities and urges participation in the national movement.

Z Sonia Worotynec is an ECE instructor with Canadian Mothercraft Society in Toronto, Ontario. You can reach her by e-mail at zs.worotynec@utotonto.ca.