Introduction

Thirty-two years ago, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously resolved to eliminate child poverty by 2000. However, in 2021, child poverty persists in communities from coast to coast. The Human Development Council releases an annual report card in partnership with Campaign 2000 to shine a light on the current state of child poverty in New Brunswick. Similar provincial and territorial report cards are written by a network of organizations committed to poverty reduction and eradication across the country. These documents are a reminder of a resolution and promise to Canadian children that has not yet been fulfilled.

In 2018, the federal government introduced Opportunityfor All:Canada?sFirst PovertyReduction Strategy. It aims to ?reduce poverty by 20 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2030.?[1] The Strategy sets the Market Basket Measure (MBM) as Canada?s official poverty line. The MBM is an absolute measure of poverty. It determines the absolute minimum a family needs to survive. The MBM has some limitations (see Appendix A), thus Campaign 2000 and its regional partners choose to use the Low-Income Measure (LIM) in their annual reporting on child poverty.

The LIM is a relative measure of poverty. It identifies families with incomes below 50%of median income, adjusted for family size. The LIM uses tax filer data, while MBM data is obtained through the Canadian Income Survey. Tax filer data is more reliable than survey data derived from a relatively small sample size that may not be representative of all peoples?realities. This report relies on the After-Tax Census Family Low Income Measure (CFLIM-AT). The most recent data available is from 2019.

In 2019, the CFLIM-AT reported 13,190 more children living in poverty than the MBM (see Figure 1).[2] The gap between the two poverty measures has been widening since 2015.[3]

[1] Employment and Social Development Canada. (2018). Opportunityfor All:Canada?sFirst PovertyReduction Strategy, https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/reports/strategy.html [2] Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0018-01 (formerly CANSIM 111-0046), After-tax low income status of tax filers and dependents based on Census Family Low Income Measure (CFLIM-AT), by family type and family type composition, 2015-2019. [3] Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0135-01, Low income statistics by age, sex and economic family type, persons living below the poverty line (market basket measure), 2015-2019.

Table 1: Census Fam ily Low Incom e Measure, Aft er Tax 2019 Thresholds by Fam ily Type [4]

Fam ily Type CFLIM-AT ($)

Single person (no child) 22,518

Lone parent with one child 31,845

Lone parent with two children 39,002

Couple with one child 39,002

Couple with two children 44,036

Figure 1: Percent age of Children in Povert y in New Brunsw ick, CFLIM-AT and MBM, 2015-2019 [5] [6]

21.7%= 30,190 children in poverty

12.4%= 17,000 children in poverty

[4] Statistics Canada, Table G. 2019 Threshold for After-Tax Census Family Low Income Measure, Technical Reference Guide for the Annual Income Estimates for Census Families, Individuals and Seniors. T1 Family File, Final Estimates, 2019. [5] Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0018-01 (formerly CANSIM 111-0046), After-tax low income status of tax filers and dependents based on Census Family Low Income Measure (CFLIM-AT), by family type and family type composition, 2015-2019. [6] Statistics Canada, Table 11-10-0135-01, Low income statistics by age, sex and economic family type, persons living below the poverty line (market basket measure), 2015-2019.