An op-ed published on the plight of Canada’s children
deserves a quick read. Published in
Victoria of all places, renowned as a centre for retirement in Canada, the
article by University of Calgary professor Nicole Letourneau hits hard at the
neglect of Canadian children in comparison to our developed country peers.
UNICEF rankings show how Canada stacks up against other
developed countries UNICEF
state of child 12 2014 and the 2014
report focused specifically on the impact of the recession globally on hardest
hit nations and changes over the 2008-2013 period. Oddly much of Canadian
statistics are excluded from the main UNICEF report, but are found in a
companion Canadian document at Canadian
companion UNICEF
·
Canada’s performance remains dismal overall but
some good trends are noted
·
Child poverty increased overall by 2%
·
Children are more likely to be living in poverty
than adults and seniors in Canada
·
Canada still ranks 20 of 41 countries in poverty
rates, and a whopping 16% absolute less than Norway where only one in twenty
children lives in poverty.
·
10% of Canada’s youth either not employed or in
school, however this fairs better than most countries (rank 7)
·
Canada ranked 34 of the 41 countries in the
perception that children’s opportunities have declined
·
Canada ranks 32 of the 41 countries on
perceptions of increased stress on children.
Both the global report and Canadian companion are excellent
documents that detail the impacts of the recession and lessons to be learned
from global comparisons. Canada’s
performance close to dismal based on the op-ed Times-Colonist
January 11.
Both documents are to be commended for lengthy discussions of
the economic rationale for supporting children, and both speak of the successes
that others have accomplished.
Time for Canada to step to the plate at more than the
tokenism expressed in addressing income splitting
amongst high single income earning families.
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