According to Statistics Canada, single persons under 25 have the highest risk of poverty, compared to all other groups. Some young adults also are parents themselves, and these families face a very high rate of poverty. There are just so many potholes - for example, students without proper gym shorts get marked as absent. No shorts, no clean attendance record. However, young people living in poverty have great difficulty in succeeding in school, due to lack of support, inadequate diet and limited access to educational resources.
Some students living in poverty are still in high school.
In Waterloo Region, more than 200 secondary school students are receiving direct social assistance. Students under 18 can get social assistance only if it is judged impossible for them to remain at home. According to Elizabeth Carlyle, chair of the Canadian Federation of Students, most students live in poverty while they're enrolled in post-secondary education. The University of Waterloo and Conestoga College in our region are among over 50 universities and colleges across Canada that have food banks or some sort of free food provision program for needy students. Students from Wilfrid Laurier University are directed to the foodbank at the University of Waterloo.