One in Three Toronto Families Live in Poverty

Almost one in three families in Toronto is living in poverty, a "deeply troubling" statistic that makes the city the poverty capital of Canada, according to a new report.

The United Way of Greater Toronto says that number represents about 93,000 households raising children -- a figure that has doubled since 1990.

The poverty rate is almost 10 per cent higher than the national average, according to the report, entitled "Losing Ground."

One in eight children in Canada – 788,000 in all – are living in poverty, a new report says.

 
Ontario remains the “child poverty capital,” with 345,000 children living in impoverished conditions, according to the 2007 national report card on child and family poverty in Canada.

 
“More parents are working but are still poor,” said Ann Decter, national co-ordinator of Campaign 2000, which released the report card this morning.

 
“It does not have to be this way.”

 
Eighteen years after the Commons passed an all-party resolution to end child poverty in Canada, little progress has been made “despite a growing economy, soaring dollar and low employment,” Decter told a Parliament Hill news conference.