More than a quarter of the children in Saint John live in poverty, study finds

The latest report on child poverty rates in Saint John shows that 27.3 per cent of kids in the city were living in poverty in 2021 — an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous year.

Created by the Saint John Human Development Council, the report points to the end of pandemic-related income supports and inflation contributing to the rise.

The child poverty rate for Saint John is higher than the provincial average of 18.7 per cent, which is higher than the Canadian average of 15.6 per cent.

"It's an incredibly stubborn problem," said Randy Hatfield, executive director of the council.

"It's complicated, but it is pervasive and holding a lot of folks in New Brunswick and throughout the country from living dignified and full lives," he said.

Hatfield said research shows childhood poverty is especially important to address because once you live in poverty as a kid, "there's a strong likelihood that you'll cycle back into it through your lifetime."

The report shows that child poverty rates are unevenly distributed across New Brunswick's cities. Campbellton and Bathurst have rates of 32.6 per cent and 25.6 per cent, respectively. Child poverty rates in Fredericton and Moncton were 17.1 per cent and 22.4 per cent. Dieppe's rate was 11.4 per cent.

It also highlighted that poverty rates are higher for one-parent families, especially those that are female-led.

When the national Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments began in the pandemic, Hatfield said it helped reduce child poverty for a time because it helped give an income boost to people directly.

"Really, if you want to reduce poverty, you're gonna have to either put more money in the hands of folks or you're gonna have to reduce the cost of living for folks," he said.

"I think the message is it's persistent, it's inching upwards, we're near pre-pandemic levels, and we have to start focusing our attention again on those that are struggling financially," Hatfield said.

Alexya Heelis is the executive director of United Way in Saint John, a non-profit that supports and invests in local agencies working to address problems like childhood poverty. She said she was nor surprised by the report, but called it disheartening.

"I think we often, in Saint John, talk about the fact that one of the things we really have here is generational poverty," Heelis said.

When kids grow up in impoverished households, Heelis said, it's challenging to break that cycle.