High divorce rates are having a detrimental impact on children. According to child advocate Dr. Paul Steinhauer, there are 14 times as many divorced Canadians as there were 30 years ago. Children whose parents separate are twice as likely to have problems at school, and children in blended families have more than their share of emotional and behavioral problems. As well, high rates of child abuse have been the focus of considerable recent concern by the Children's Aid Society. The point is that many children in Canada are having real problems, but these have little to do with inadequate incomes.
Child poverty is an important issue.
We need good information about the dimensions and the trends of the problem in Canada. It does no good to exaggerate and ultimately trivialize it by using an indicator that was never intended to measure poverty. In order to get a better understanding of the extent of child poverty, we need to start with a realistic and informative definition of poverty. You can contact us at the above email address for any comments or information requests. Please report any dead links or technical problems.