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Manitoba child poverty capital

By: Staff Writer

24/11/2009 1:04 PM | Comments: 24

WINNIPEG — Manitoba is once again the child poverty capital of Canada says a report card issued by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg today. The report card says almost one in five Manitoba children are living in poverty.

The SPC also says Manitoba has had the dubious distinction of being the child poverty capitol of the country in nine of the 20 years since the federal government passed a resolution committing to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.

 

Sandra Gessler, president of SPC's board of directors said, "no Canadian child should have to go to school hungry and without proper supplies, live in sub-standard housing in unsafe neighbourhoods, and face a future with few opportunities and little hope."

The report card is being released on the 20th anniversary of the passing of the federal governments resolution to end child poverty.

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24 Commentscomment icon

I believe welfare was started back in the depression era ('30's)
to help those in dire need. Unfortunately it's become a career choice for some. I think there should be a time limit set on how long you can collect. What exactly is defined as poverty?
There are many working poor families, and many rich welfare families. Food banks only enable the problem and encourage many to feed their addictions with grocery $$$, instead of feeding their children with it. That extra $100/child/month should be more than enough, with careful meal planning, shopping and coupons/sales flyers to lift the poverty label off Manitoba.

child tax benefits =drug/alcohol/gambling/ party money = families going to foodbanks until the next check comes = children going hungry =
government raises child tax benefit=more babies born and the circle continues

more families using food banks then ever before, obviously this is not working.

In many cases poverty is a never ending cycle through the generations. Your parents raised you on welfare and didn't work to get off of it so what does that teach you? There are many social programs available to those who want the help. But you cannot help those who are not open to receiving it.

There is a big difference between those who use government programs to re-establish themselves and those who live off it.

What is the solution? Monitor their spending using debit cards that don't give out cash and if they choose to buy alcohol or other items that don't benefit them, deduct that amount in the future? No that would be invasion of privacy. Adopt the idea of food stamps similar to the States? No that would be considered degrading when they go to the grocery store. Welfare already makes potential employers sign a form when they apply to prove they have been looking for work (I've signed many for people dressed in ratched out jeans and over sized hoodies trying to get a job in a retail store.) To me they did not seem serious about getting and keeping the job otherwise they could go to a thrift store and buy the cheapest pair of dress pants available or they don’t know what kind of job is suitable for them or they are just doing the motions to keep the system happy. But do people who have never worked or seen people work know what's entailed in finding a job?

There are many options but no solutions it seems.

Our problem with poverty is that it's tough to get out of. You get more benefits like dental and prescription drugs, accessibility to low income housing, low income hydro rates while on welfare. Once that person starts an average starting wage - $20K or less, they lose these benefits, plus they have to cover child care costs if they are single.

So what do they do? They have more babies. More babies = more welfare money, and a lot of the time they can make do with hand me downs etc. so it ends up costing them less in the long run.

Maybe in the government instituted a program where these people don't lose their benefits once they start working. I commend people like CRN who struggle to make their way out of it - it's not an easy thing to do.

Dont be so quick to judge people; I am a single mother of two great children for six years now and have fought tooth and nail to make ends meet. I left my abusive partner to spare my children of a volatile life. I am a full time nursing student and can tell you that its not as easy as you think it is. I have already been back to school once and I live in manitoba housing. As soon as you start working you pay very high rent. It is very difficult to get out. I believe a HUGE problem is maitenance enforcement. I have provided MANY leads to them for years yet nothing comes of it. He walks and lives free in Winnipeg. So dont judge all families of poverty and their parents. Some of us are just like you trying to do the right thing for our kids.

Poverty is too complicated an issue and I find that this article just highlights the problem in reporting who our impoverished are.

I agree that there people who shouldn't have children, but who wants to live in a country where the state decides who shall have children and how many they will be allowed...I think one major country has already tried that...

The problem is that there are too many overlapping agencies involved in helping people. Stream - line the process and only the most needy will be helped...the rest will have to manage on their own. No child should go hungry, especially in our province, but there are too many factors involved in figuring out who is poor and who is not....and its the kids that suffer.

I can understand the point of view some people are commenting about. Yes women are out there having a lot of babies and so on. But I think you also forgot about the working poor that are out there as well, trying to make ends meet. Trying to support their families and putting food on the table for their children, trying to pay for child care and all the living expenses they have to put forth to have a roof over their heads. I work in a place with children and a lot of the mothers and fathers that come into my work are good people tring to make a positive outlook on life. So I really think people should read the report card from the Socical Planning Council and not jump to conclusions about "mothers" with 6 kids.

Its all about education and parenting.

Focus on that hard fo the next 30 years and we just might dig out of this hole.

I think that that the parents should be educated on how to handle the government checks they recieve for having these babies. Most of these babies come from single women who will only see the father of the child when the check comes around so they can spend it on gambling and drinking. The child will still go hungry.

Stop having babies if you can't afford them. I am tired of paying for other peoples' children. Welfare pays more for each child they have. The children suffer in the end for someone else's poor judgement.

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