Thank you.
I'm a community worker in the community development and prevention program of the Children's Aid Society. I'm here on behalf of the society, but also as a founding member of Campaign 2000, the campaign to end child poverty.
As my colleague indicated, many, many community groups have been working to raise the profile of the issue of poverty in our community and to see action. I really am pleased to be here as well. I hope the committee's deliberations will lead to some solid actions.
At the Children's Aid Society, poverty has a really devastating impact on children and families. We estimate that about two-thirds of our clients have incomes below the low income cut-off. About half have incomes below $20,000. That's in the City of Toronto. About 7% are homeless and in temporary accommodation.
We spend about half a million dollars in emergency assistance for really basic needs just to prevent admissions into care. These are needs such as food, clothing, and shelter--really basic. We know from some research we've done that housing is a factor in about one of five admissions into care and that housing is also a factor in prolonging the length of time a child is in care.
Child welfare organizations right across the province, I think it's safe to say, strongly support all efforts to reduce and ultimately eliminate poverty. It's fundamental to the safety and dignity of communities and families for all children to flourish, including children or youth who are of transitional age.
In 1989, the House of Commons unanimously resolved to end child poverty by the year 2000. The CAS has since been a community partner in Campaign 2000 and has contributed numerous report cards tracking progress.
Our most recent study is “Greater Trouble in Greater Toronto” and it has troubling findings for the Greater Toronto Area. There are three broad themes.
The first is that poverty is urbanized and it is no longer sustainable. Since the 1989 Commons resolution, child poverty rates have increased substantially in the cities that make up the GTA. For example, it has gone from 12% to 21% in Mississauga, from 8% to 20% in Markham, from 9% to 18% in Richmond Hill, and from 24% to 32% in Toronto. That's from 1990 to 2005 census data.
The second broad theme is that poverty is racialized. There are just no two ways about it. Half the children in this city, or in the Greater Toronto Area, are children of non-European heritage, but they make up seven of every 10 children who are living in poverty.
The third broad theme is that lone parents are inordinately burdened by the problem of poverty. In Toronto, about 29% of children are in lone-parent families, but they make up 51% of the children living in poverty.
The timing couldn't be better: we can't wait any longer. Our national government needs to recommit to acting on poverty. Also, the timing is great in terms of working with Ontario. Ontario has recently committed itself to a 25% reduction over five years in the number of children in poverty, as I'm sure you've heard, and it is specifically asking for federal help, for the federal government to be a partner. We can talk about those areas.
We at the Children's Aid totally support the Campaign 2000 policy solutions. These include a full child benefit of $5,200 a year. In fact, child benefits have been a pretty big success story in Canada over the years in terms of reducing poverty. We feel that they have a little more to go, but they can really have quite an impact on poverty.
They also include the working tax credit of $2,400 and extending EI eligibility, or restoring it, some would say, as well as making major investments in early learning and child care. This is really quite key. In fact, a crisis is looming in Toronto and in Ontario around early learning. We can talk about that later.
Also included are major investments in affordable housing. This is absolutely critical for families, but it's also critical for youth who are in transition, such as our youth who are in care.
I thank you again. We'll talk more.