Indigenous children in Canada are over two and a half times more likely to live in poverty than are non-indigenous children, according to a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Save the Children Canada.
The average child poverty rate for all aboriginal children is 40 per cent compared to 15% for other. Using government statistics from 2006 the study divided children into three groups.
The first group excludes indigenous, visible minority and immigrant children and has a poverty rate of 12 per cent.
The second group includes Métis (of mixed native and white, often French, ancestry), Inuit (natives of the north), and non-status Indian children who do not live on reserves set aside for status Indians. They have a poverty rate of 27 per cent. It also includes visible minority children with a poverty rate of 22 per cent and immigrant children whose poverty rate is 33%.
The third tier is made up of status First Nations children who either live on or are connected to reserves. Among them 50 per cent live below the poverty line. They also are behind in other measures of well-being: they are five times more likely to live in an overcrowded household and three times more likely to live in a house that needs repairs. They also suffer poor water quality, higher infant mortality, poorer health and more suicides.
said economist David Macdonald.
© Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Part of the problem, according to the report, is that the Canadian government caps yearly increases in spending on social services on reserves at two per cent to account for inflation. But that does not take into account a rapid increase in the number of people in those jurisdictions. So the same services are spread more thinly.
$7.5 billion needed to end aboriginal children’s poverty
It would take $7.5 billion a year from to bring all children up to the poverty line, estimates the study. $1 billion would be required for all indigenous children and $580 million specifically for status First Nations children.
Private enterprise should contribute to that by developing projects and offering jobs near reserves and governments need to take charge of the situation, says the study.
“This continues to be a significant challenge and…a real issue internationally that Canada has abrogated its responsibilities to dealing with these significant issues of poverty and underdevelopment of indigenous communities,” said David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
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