Toronto is planning cuts to low-income services at the same time as a new report says it has the highest number of children living in poverty of any large Canadian city. Based on tax information, 27 per cent of Toronto children lived in low-income families in 2014, according to the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and other advocacy groups.
‘A trend of service cuts’
They say that Toronto city council is considering cutting up to $600 million on spending for such things as community housing, transit, libraries and student nutrition, “continuing a trend of service cuts over the past six years.”
Toronto is said to have 133,000 children living in poverty putting it ahead of Montreal where 25 per cent of children live in low-income households and Winnipeg with 24 per cent. The report found racialized families, new immigrant families, lone parent families and families with disabilities were three times more at risk of living in poverty.
Poor children ‘struggling to succeed’
Children from low-income neighbourhoods are having more difficulty in math, reading and writing than children from higher-income areas.
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