The latest statistics for child poverty in 2010 show British Columbia held onto its second-highest child poverty ranking in the country for the second year in a row. But while Manitoba has again taken the undesirable top spot, B.C. still has more poor children than the national average.
The 2012 Child Poverty Report Card released this morning by First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition shows B.C.’s child poverty rate fell in 2010 to 10.5 per cent after tax from 12 per cent the year before. Higher than the national average of 8.2 per cent, First Call estimates 87,000 children in the province live in poverty.
For the BC Teachers’ Federation, this comes as little surprise. They contend teachers in B.C. deal with child poverty every day: kids coming to school without food, wearing the same clothes for days, or living in substandard, over-crowded housing.
There’s little individual teachers can do to challenge poverty on their own. But as a union, the BCTF is focusing on the cause this month more than ever as part of their Year of Action leading up to May’s provincial election.
Read more: http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/11/21/Child-Poverty-BandAids/
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