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By Liam Verster

Child Poverty Rate of 14.3%

North Okanagan’s child poverty rate above provincial average

Feb 15, 2023 | 11:54 AM

The North Okanagan was in the middle of the pack for child poverty rates per regional district in B.C., though the local figure was above the provincial average.

First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society, released its B.C. Child Poverty Report Card this week.

The report, based on 2020 census data on income after tax, stated the North Okanagan had a child poverty rate of 14.3 per cent.

First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Group has confirmed with Vernon Matters that the figure dropped over three points from the 2019 rate of 17.9 per cent.

The North Okanagan’s 2020 figure was the 12th lowest in the province, which has 29 regional districts.

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The lowest rate recorded in 2020 was East Kootenay at 10.5 per cent, while the highest was 25.6 per cent in the Central Coast.

The districts surrounding the North Okanagan all had a range of child poverty rates: Central Okanagan’s rate was 12.2 per cent, Thompson-Nicola’s figure was 13.7 per cent, Columbia-Shuswap had a rate of 13.4 per cent and a rate of 17.3 per cent was recorded in Central Kootenay.

Child Poverty rates per regional district in B.C. (graphic courtesy of First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society)

The report did not provide specific data for Vernon, but did note the Kelowna Metropolitan Census area had a rate of 12.2 per cent in 2020. That figure reflects 4,490 children aged 0 to 17, or one in 10 kids, living below the poverty line in Kelowna in 2020.

Meanwhile, the provincial child poverty rate was recorded at 13.3 per cent in 2020. That translates to approximately 116,500 children and youth, or one in eight kids, living below the poverty line in 2020.

That figure was down from 2019, when the provincial rate was recorded at 18 per cent.

First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society has been tracking child poverty since 2000 when the rate in B.C. was recorded at 27.6 per cent.

The report noted 2020’s figure of 13.3 per cent was a record low for the province.

Canada as a whole had a child poverty rate similar to B.C. at 13.5 per cent in 2020. That was also down from 2019’s figure of 17.7 per cent, and well below 2000’s rate of 24.2.

The report attributed the large drop in child poverty rates with the provincial and federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 such as Canada Emergency Response Benefit, extra Canada Child Benefit, B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers, B.C. Recovery Benefit, and other assistance programs.

Additionally, the report stated B.C.’s rate was the fourth lowest in Canada in 2020. Yukon had the lowest rate of nine per cent, followed Quebec (10.6 per cent) and Alberta (12.8). Nunavut had the highest child poverty rate at 28.1 per cent, followed by Manitoba (10.7) and Saskatchewan (19.7).