Pandemic lessons: Ending child and family poverty is possible

February 14, 2023

Campaign 2000 releases its annual report card on child and family poverty, Pandemic Lessons: Ending Child and Family Poverty is Possible. The report shows that during a global pandemic, rates of child poverty in Canada were reduced by a record 40%. Using tax filer data from 2020, the latest available, this report card finds that child poverty fell to 13.5%, down from 17.7% the previous year. That is the largest year over year drop since the federal government promised to end child poverty in 1989, and is largely a result of temporary pandemic benefits. These benefits have all been retracted and this progress is unlikely to be sustained in the future. The federal government must take action to maintain and build on these gains in poverty reduction. 

This year’s national report card focuses on changes to income security measures, the need for decent work for all and the role of childcare in supporting low-income families. It draws on data from focus groups and community conversations across the country to share the experiences of the real people who often get lost behind the numbers and emphasizes the need for trauma-informed and rights-based policy solutions to address the inequities of child and family poverty in this country.  

This report offers more than 50 recommendations on poverty reduction measures that cover inequality, income security, decent work, childcare, housing and public health. The pandemic, government response and significant reduction in poverty rates demonstrated that child poverty is a policy choice, not an economic inevitability. These recommendations offer the opportunity to build on the progress of 2020 and make the choices necessary to end child and family poverty.   

Key Findings from the 2022 National Report Card:

Nearly one million, or more than 1 in 8 children, are growing up with the short- and long-term physical, mental, emotional, economic and social harms of poverty.
Child poverty declined in every region across Canada. 
Government transfers can end poverty. Without temporary pandemic benefits, 1.5 million children would have been living in poverty or nearly 21%
Child and family poverty disproportionately affects marginalized communities: For racialized children, it was 15.1%. For children in lone-parent families led by women, it was 29.7%. For First Nations children living on reserve, it was 37.4%.