A new report on child and family poverty in Nova Scotia finds “no real progress” in the province.
“It’s not a dramatic change. That’s what really stands out. It’s very stagnant,” said Ruby Harrington, communications and outreach officer for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia.
The group published the report on Wednesday along with its partners: the non-partisan coalition, Campaign 2000, and the Acadia University-based research team, Fed Family Lab.
The findings were based on public data from 2023.
According to that data, Nova Scotia has the highest rate of child poverty in Atlantic Canada and the third-highest in the country — with 22.7 per cent of children living in poverty.
That’s a decrease of just under five per cent from 2022.
The report also found 38 per cent of children, representing 68,000 children, lived in food-insecure households.
“There are children who are going to spend their entire lives in poverty. There are children who, in their most formative developmental years, are not going to have the support that they really need,” said Harrington.
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“They’re going to grow up in households where there’s that constant stress because they feel like they can feel (their parents are) living paycheque to paycheque. We’re setting children up for a very difficult time in their lives.”
The report highlighted rates of poverty are more prominent in single-parent households, as well as rural, new immigrant and racialized families. Close to half of children in single-parent families lived in poverty.
The report suggested the province implement a poverty elimination plan, as well as increase family income, social assistance and access to public services.
The NDP’s Opportunities and Social Development critic, Lina Hamid, called the report’s findings “shocking” and criticized government for not taking action.
“The cost of living in Nova Scotia is out of control. Rents are skyrocketing. The cost of utilities is skyrocketed. And those are two things that the government could take action on today, that they are, for some reason or the other, choosing not to,” said Hamid.
“I mean, the premier has made himself the Minister of Energy and could take immediate action to ensure that families are able to afford heating their homes and we’ve seen nothing.”
Carley Smith, a spokesperson from the Department of Opportunities and Social Development told Global News in an email that government has taken “several important steps in recent years” to support those in need.
The statement pointed to an increase in income assistance, funding for supportive housing and the addition of a disability supplement.
“(We’ve) provided millions in funding to partners in the community, including diversion funding and, most recently, $4 million to support food-related projects. That’s in addition to government action to create the school lunch program, lower taxes, and expand access to affordable housing for all Nova Scotians,” she wrote.
The statement also said “we don’t need a report to tell us Nova Scotians are facing challenging times — or to take action.”
“Government is firmly committed to unlocking our resource potential, growing our economy, and creating good jobs for Nova Scotians,” the statement said.
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