Child Poverty in Aboriginal Peoples
A report from 2006 from CBC explains how “Aboriginal Children are the poorest in the country”. First Nations people of canada already face poverty, but since their communities are growing so rapidly, more and more children entering schools on and off the Indian reserves are living below the poverty line. The report says “one in four children in First Nations communities lives in poverty”. While in children not of Aboriginal ethnicity the child poverty rate is 1 in 9, still not a good number but much less that what the Aboriginal children face. “With an increasing First Nations and aboriginal population that is both rural and urban, young, vital and rapidly expanding, Canada must address the extremes of poverty that First Nations face on a daily basis. This poverty is systemic and long-standing, and requires concerted action from all levels”. The Canadian government must work with the band leaders of the Indian reserves to help these children live healthy lives. Some of the challenges that these children face day to day include:
- One aboriginal child in eight is disabled, double the rate of all children in Canada.
- Among First Nations children, 43 per cent lack basic dental care.
- Overcrowding among First Nations families is double the rate of that for all Canadian families.
- Mould contaminates almost half of all First Nations households.
- Almost half of aboriginal children under 15 years old residing in urban areas live with a single parent.
- Close to 100 First Nations communities must boil their water.
- Of all off-reserve aboriginal children, 40 per cent live in poverty.
“Now is the time for governments at all levels to collaborate with First Nations governments and aboriginal organizations to ramp up social investments that enable young aboriginals to succeed”. Since most of these childrens parents also came from families living in poverty, it becomes a vicious cycle that none of them are bale to get out of. If enough people have concerns about what these children face day to day, we can work together to help bring it to the governmnet. With our help, these children can break the cycle and live the lives that we were lucky enough to live.
