According to a new report by the Social Health Equity Network of Lethbridge and Area (SHENLA), poverty continues to impact youth in southern Alberta.
Using 2019 data, the 2022 Lethbridge Child and Family Poverty report finds 15.2 per cent of children aged zero to seventeen are living in low-income environments within the Lethbridge census metropolitan area.
“It’s really a major concern and it’s something we need to take action about collectively,” said Sharon Yanicki, a SHENLA leadership team member.
“We need to plan to end poverty in our area and we need to do that across groups.”
In certain demographics, the problem is even more widespread.
The report finds 42 per cent of first nations youth and more than 46 per cent of children in single-parent homes are in low-income situations, which can be detrimental to their development.
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“It has impacts on health, social issues, barriers on recreation. There’s all kinds of issues that face poverty,” said United Way of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta executive director Jaci Zalesak.
United Way of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta officials added these can be long-lasting effects.
“It’s a cycle,” said Zalesak.
“When you live in poverty as a youth, it can impact all the way up into your adult years.”
Overall, the report states child poverty in the area dropped 7.4 per cent between 2000 and 2019, but Yanicki believes that number needs to be reduced even further.
“That’s very small and largely it’s related to policies at the federal and the provincial level. There’s much more that we can do by addressing it collectively at a local community level.”
Yanicki added a good immediate step would be gathering local child poverty levels since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic.
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