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November 4, 2002
BACKGROUNDER: The Progress of Canada’s Children 2002
After tracking child outcomes for several years, Progress can now paint a picture of the toll that persistent poverty and deteriorating services are having on the health and well-being of our children.
The growing divide: CCSD's analysis of family assets between 1984 and 1999 has revealed some startling statistics. The average net worth of the country’s poorest families dropped by 51% while it rose by 42.7% for the country’s wealthiest. Even more startling is the virtual stagnation of the growth in wealth for the median couple with children who saw an increase of only 3.4%.
Impact on school performance: In terms of reading/grammar skills, 27% of children in poverty for two years were doing well as compared to 44% of children who had never been poor, and there was a gap between poor children (70%) and non-poor children (90%) in terms of school-readiness.
Impact of recreation: Results from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) for 1994, 1996 and 1998 showed a sizeable gap in terms of how well children aged 10 to 15 are performing academically and their participation levels in recreation. There was a much greater percentage of children doing very well at school among those who had participated regularly in recreation than among children who had not participated (48% compared to 32%).
Parental depression: Progress stats show that in 1998, approximately 20% of children in families with household incomes less than $20K lived with a depressed parent compared to just over 5% of children in households with incomes over 40K.
Family dysfunction: In 1998, 23% of children under 16 in families with income less than $20,000 lived in so-called "dysfunctional" families, compared to 9% of children in families with incomes over $40,000. Family functioning refers to how well family members communicate with each other, work together and treat each other.
Housing: The housing crisis continues for Canadian children and families. The number of households that paid more than 50% of their pre-tax income on rent rose by 43% between 1990 and 1995. As a result, children and families are the fastest growing group requiring emergency shelter.
Impact of Community Support: A 1999 initiative found that children living in neighbourhoods with plentiful community resources such as parks, recreational areas, libraries, preschool programs and parenting classes scored higher on five important areas of development: their physical health and well-being, social knowledge and competence, emotional maturity, language richness, and general knowledge and cognitive skills. They demonstrated behaviours much more consistent with being ready for school than did children from neighbourhoods with scarce community resources.
The Progress of Canada's Children 2002 - Related Material
Canadian Council on Social Development,
190 O'Connor Street, Suite 100,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2R3
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
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