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June 21, 1999
Poverty rates increasing among young Quebec families
OTTAWA - The number of young Quebec families living in poverty increased dramatically at the beginning of the 1990s, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD).
Poverty in Quebec: Metropolitan areas shows a province-wide increase of 45 per cent in the poverty rate among two-parent families under 30 years of age. The largest increase in the number of young two-parent families living in poverty - 71 per cent - occurred in the region of Chicoutimi/Jonquière. The report also shows a 33 per cent increase in the poverty rate among young Quebeckers aged 15 to 34, and a 34 per cent increase in poverty among young people aged 14 and under.
"The shocking increase in poverty rates among young people - particularly young families - highlights the need to focus on strategies to help them at the upcoming youth summit," said Sylvain Schetagne, a research associate at the CCSD and author of the report.
The report compares changes in poverty rates in five Quebec urban areas between 1990 and 1995 using Census data. The urban areas include Montreal, Quebec, Chicoutimi/Jonquière, Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières. It is the first time such a comparison has been made.
"Poverty rates increased in each of the areas we studied, but the rate of change and the composition of the poor is different in each area, " added Schetagne.
Urban Poverty in Quebec Metropolitan Areas - 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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