1 in 4 Toronto children live in poverty, new report claims
Posted June 23, 2015 2:38 pm.
Last Updated June 23, 2015 9:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The City of Toronto released a 50-page document Tuesday outlining its 20-year vision to fight poverty, saying that one in four children and one in five adults in the city live in poverty.
The report adds that 46 per cent of recent immigrants, 37 per cent of female lone parents, 33 per cent of people in racialized groups and 30 per cent of people with disabilities live in poverty.
The strategy is centered on five themes: housing, city services, transit, food access, and quality jobs.
Read the full report: To Prosperity: Interim poverty reduction strategy
Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell, who is responsible for the city’s poverty file, told The Toronto Star that it’s probably impossible to completely eradicate poverty, but it is important to make sure people don’t fall into poverty, and that if they do, they can be pulled back out.
The report is based on interviews conducted with Torontonians living in poverty over the past year.
The report goes before the mayor’s executive committee on June 30. If it’s approved, it will go to council the following week. The final strategy will go to council in time for the 2016 fiscal budget.
