According to the most recent Poverty Profile released by the National Council of Welfare, the number of children under age 18 living in poverty in Canada increased by 40,000 or 2.8% between 1995 and 1996.

As shown in the chart below, more children were living in poverty in Canada in 1996 than in any other year since 1980. Since 1989, the year the House of Commons voted unanimously to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000, the number of poor children has increased by more than half a million (547,000) or 58.6%.

The NCW report showed dramatic variations in child poverty rates between two-parent families and those headed by single parent-mothers. The 1996 child poverty rate in Canada for children in two-parent families was 12.6%, while for children of single-parent mothers it was 65.3%.

However, a greater number of children were living in poverty in two-parent families (730,000) than in single-parent families headed by women (673,000).