Child poverty in N.B. above the national rate
As many as 32,000 children live in poverty in New Brunswick.
It works out to about 22 per cent of children in the province, according to Liam Fisher.
Fisher is a data analyst and research co-ordinator with the Human Development Council. He said a new report shows New Brunswick above the national rate.
Fisher said a child is considered to be living in poverty when their family or household earns less than a certain income.
There had been improvements in recent years, but over the past five years, the number has doubled.
“Pre-2015 we would have seen some moderate, very, very mild progress,” Fisher said. “Kind of slow, trending in the right direction over a decade to two decades.”
Fisher said the introduction of the Canada Child Benefit brought child poverty rates down significantly before stabilizing.
Income supports implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic brought the numbers down even more.
But those were temporary measures.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve been seeing steady year-over-year increases and all of the impact of those pandemic income supports being erased,” Fisher said. “In some cases, child poverty rates exceeding pre-pandemic levels because of the increased affordability challenges that families are facing in the last five years.”
Fisher said those pandemic measures demonstrated government transfers can be an effective tool to reduce poverty.
“But … they’re only as effective as they’re able to be accessed.”
Heather Atcheson, a social researcher with HDC, said in New Brunswick there are certain groups that are disproportionately represented when it comes to child poverty.
“For example, the cohort of children under age six, they have a higher level of poverty compared to children overall in the province,” she said. “There’s nearly one in four children under the age of six that are living in poverty.”
Atcheson said that’s a concerning figure.
“When poverty is experienced in the early stages of a child’s life that can lead to things chronic stress, poor health outcomes, and long-term developmental impacts,” she said, adding those difficulties can follow a child into adulthood.
Other groups with higher rates are children in single-parent families, particularly if the parent is the mother, and indigenous children, racialized children and children of recent immigrants.
Within New Brunswick, it can also depend on where a child lives.
Fisher said poverty in the province is highly concentrated in certain areas.
“We see certain cities in the province like Campbellton, Bathurst and Saint John tend to have higher rates,” he said.
Suburban municipalities adjacent to some cities tend to have lower rates, such as New Maryland, Quispamsis and Rothesay.
But some of the biggest disparities exist within a city.
“Within a short drive, you could have a neighbourhood that has a poverty rate of 50 per cent to 70 per cent,” Fisher said. “And then you could drive to one with a poverty rate of seven per cent for children.”
Fisher said an example might be the difference between Saint John’s north end neighbourhoods and Millidgeville.
He said people living in the communities like Quispamsis or Rothesay tend to have higher incomes and have more flexibility about where they live.
“We also know that certain neighbourhoods with high concentrations of poverty tend to also have a concentration of services available,” he said. “So if you’re a low-income family and you require services, it’s likely that you’ll end up finding yourself living where there’s access to services.”
He said other factors like public transportation play a role, housing tends to be cheaper in low-income neighbourhoods, and even zoning regulations.
“Some parts of the province, you’re just not allowed to build apartments or affordable housing, and in some parts you are.”
And even as affordable housing efforts increase around the province, it’s still a struggle.
“What we see day to day is that despite those efforts, the need is greater than the supply,” Fisher said.
HDC’s report on child poverty included recommendations on the importance of affordable housing, especially the non-profit housing model.
Atcheson said there are certainly steps being taken, but more can always be done.
“Something we hear from our qualitative research is that while these efforts are really appreciated, the families and individuals in need needed this support yesterday,” she said.
“I know these changes take time, but the need is so great and people need the support as fast as they can get them.”
It’s not all doom and gloom, though.
Atcheson said she and Fisher recently attended a food symposium hosted by the Fundy Regional Service Commission, bringing together community leaders and members of the community to talk about the issue of rising food costs and food security.
“When we started the day, we talked about what are the challenges,” Atcheson said. “As the day went on, we started talking about solutions.”
Atcheson said she thinks the most effective solutions are those that tackle deep systemic issues.
“That’s not an easy thing to do,” she said.
Fisher said it’s areas like food, energy and rent that have been the primary drivers of income inadequacy over the last five years.
“Rent and energy and fixed costs,” Fisher said. “So when you get your bill, there’s no flexibility, you just have to pay for it. So what that means that what’s left comes out of your food budget, and that’s where you have to typically make compromises.”
Fisher said food insecurity comes down an income problem, so all the recommendations that tackle affordability for families and easing the stress on budgets ultimately leaves extra room to deal with food, especially healthy food.
Atcheson added people living in poverty need access to more disposable income.
“Whether that be through reducing costs for goods or increased government support, something like income transfers … that’s the way that we can try to tackle this affordability issue.”
