Child poverty in New Brunswick climbed over last 25 years

The rate of New Brunswick children living in poverty is higher today than it was in 1989, according to the Human Development Council.

Anti-poverty activists are marking the 25-year anniversary of a federal government pledge to eliminate child poverty.

Despite that pledge, 21 per cent of New Brunswick children were living in poverty in 2012, said the Saint John-basedcouncil, citingStatistics Canadadata.

The rate was 19.8 per cent in 1989.

The rates in New Brunswick vary among the cities from a high of 34 per cent in Campbellton to 11per cent in Dieppe. The percentage of children living in poverty in New Brunswick's other cities in 2012 were: Saint John (30 per cent),Bathurst(28 per cent), Fredericton (25 per cent),Edmundston (22 per cent), Miramichi (22 per cent), Moncton, (23 per cent).

Vitta Morales, 17, is a student at Fredericton High School and took part in a panel discussion this morning on CBC's Radio One's The Current.

He has personal experience living in poverty.

His father came to Canada 25 years ago as a refugee from El Salvador and his mother followed a year later.

They have not yet been able to find steady, full-time work with health benefits, he said.

"Poverty is not synonymous with being uneducated or being lazy or not having the right mindset to go out and break out of the cycle of poverty," he said.

"There are people that are working day and night, working very hard for their families that never see any results."

Hisfamily couldn't afford prescription drugs, dental or eye care, said Morales, and he was encouraged to apply for bursaries to further his education.

There is a certain stigma for those who express these kinds of concerns, said Morales.

"Because you have to start to question the structures that exist in the community if you're trying to challenge poverty head on," he said.

The councilis calling for a new federal action plan with targets andtime lines, an enhanced child benefit for low-income families, a comprehensive national housing strategy and a program for early childhood care and education.

It also wants the provincial government to sustain funding for poverty reduction.