Manitoba's child poverty rate 2nd-highest in Canada: report

Manitoba gets a failing grade when it comes to dealing with child and family poverty, according to a new report.

The report by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg says almost three out of 10 children in the province were living in poverty in 2012.

Manitoba's child poverty rate of 29 per cent is the highest among the provinces and 10 per cent above the national rate. Only Nunavut has a higher rate, at 33.5 per cent.

"We're very much concerned," Sid Frankel, an associate professor of social work at the University of Manitoba and a co-author of the report, told CBC News on Monday.

"We really do call on the government to look at what it's doing and to set targets and timelines and to get moving on a plan to reduce child poverty."

Manitoba's child poverty rate was 23 per cent in 1989.

The report also suggests that indigenous families carry a disproportionate burden of poverty.

Frankel said the province's child poverty rate has continued to worsen over the past five years. He said it's clear that Manitoba's child poverty reduction plan is not working.

"It is a serious issue. The government is right to have a poverty reduction strategy. They really do need to set some targets and timelines if they're serious about that strategy," he said.

Read the reports

• ON MOBILE? Read the Manitoba-specific report and the national report.