Manitoba needs plan to cut child poverty rates in half by 2027: report

A new report on child and family poverty in Manitoba says the province needs to commit to "a bold target" of reducing child poverty rates by 50 per cent within the next three years.

That's one of the recommendations in a new report released Tuesday by the Manitoba chapter of Campaign 2000 — a national anti-poverty campaign.

"Year after year, it can be very depressing to do this report," said Kate Kehler, the executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, which contributed to the report. 

The Campaign 2000 coalition tracks the federal government's progress on a 1989 promise to end child poverty by the year 2000.

The new report, titled "35 Years In: Manitoba Needs an Anti-Poverty Strategy that Works," provides an overview on child poverty in the province and makes recommendations for addressing the issue.

Manitoba has the highest child poverty rate among all Canadian provinces, at 27 per cent, the report says — well above the national average of 18 per cent, based on 2022 Statistics Canada data.

"There's lots of different levers that different levels of government can pull in order to fix this, but they have to have a goal," Kehler said at a news conference in Winnipeg, where the report was released Tuesday.

For example, Kehler pointed to spending on the "affordability package" rolled out by the previous Progressive Conservative government — which sent benefit cheques to Manitoba families with children and a household income of less than $175,000 — and the current NDP government's gas tax holiday as money that could be redirected to helping lift families out of poverty.

"There is money," said Kehler, including more than $6.8 billion in federal transfers and equalization payments for 2024-25.

"Instead of using those for tax breaks for middle- and high-income folks, let's make sure that we're bringing people out of poverty."

Guarantee income for kids aging out of care: report

The report makes five five immediate recommendations for addressing child poverty, including committing to a 50 per cent reduction in child and family poverty from the 2022 level by 2027.

Another recommendation is to create a guaranteed basic income program for people aging out of Child and Family Services and fund more community-based programs in schools to help children learn. 

The report also calls on the province to ensure support for changes to legislation passed earlier this year to ensure people on employment and income assistance can pursue adult basic education and still receive benefits.

As well, the report makes long-term recommendations that touch on a range of issues, including ensuring the minimum wage is a "living wage" and calling for all family and child benefit programs to be indexed to inflation.

It also makes health-related recommendations, such as fully implementing Jordan's Principle, which says First Nations children should get prompt access to essential health care, with questions about which jurisdiction pays for them worked out afterward.

On housing, the report calls for 5,000 social housing units to be added over five years, with rents set at social assistance levels or capped at 30 per cent of household income.

Kehler said the province has promised a poverty reduction strategy "focusing on children, and youth aging out of care and seniors, and so we're really hoping that with our recommendations that are very much targeted to those groups, that we'll see some progress in those areas."

Working on poverty reduction: minister

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the province takes the report's findings seriously, and pointed to efforts her government has made, such as a recently announced school nutrition program.

"Almost immediately since I became minister, we've engaged in a revision and a revamping of the poverty reduction strategy of Manitoba," Fontaine said, adding that strategy will be unveiled in the near future, and will have a focus on marginalized children. 

The report also says the percentage of Manitoba children living in households facing food insecurity went up from about 26 per cent in 2022 to nearly 33 per cent last year. 

University of Manitoba food and human nutritional sciences professor Natalie Riediger said she expects that number will be even worse for 2024. 

"Food prices have continued to either go up or stay the same … and we've seen little policy response in terms of improving income supports, which we know are the most effective ways to reduce food insecurity," she said.

Mary Burton, executive director of Zoongizi Ode, formerly known as Fearless R2W, said fewer children would be living in poverty if the province increased minimum wage to a living wage and boosted employment income assistance benefits for families. 

"I myself am a grandmother. I am raising three of my grandchildren and working two jobs, and I still struggle month-to-month to make ends meet, so that's how real poverty is," she said. 

"I work with a lot of people who are on social assistance, and they're fighting to get their kids back or they're fighting to keep their kids — or they're just fighting, period, to make ends meet."