Church to combat child poverty

Details

Published on Thursday, June 11, 2015

Submitted

United Church of Neepawa

Members of the Mission and Service committee of the Neepawa United Church want you to know more about child poverty. They’ll soon unveil plans for a series of events designed to raise awareness of a problem which they believe poses a moral dilemma for us all. The plans also include a fund-raising component. 

The Committee notes there are still 1.3 million cases of child poverty in Canada today. That’s slightly more than there were in 1989, when Parliament passed an Act to eliminate it by the year 2000. Canada ranks far down the list of countries in dealing with the problem– 15 out of 17. 

Manitoba’s rate also leaves something to be desired. At 29 per cent, we have the second highest number of poor kids, per capita, in the nation. That, too has gone up slightly since 1989. 

A number which should come as no surprise to anyone shows that poor children and families are also hungry and in more need of care. At present, 60,000 Manitobans rely on food banks each month. Almost half are children. More than 10,000 children are now in the care of Child and Family Services in our province, a big jump in the past decade. A startling 40 per cent of indigenous children nationally are considered to be in poverty, more than twice that of the overall population. 

The campaign by the local church members is part of a commitment by the National United Church Women to end child poverty in Canada in five years.