Child poverty in Nova Scotia spiked from 2021 to 2022: report

Many NS households struggle with food: report A new report says two-in-five Nova Scotia children are living in households that struggle to put food on the table.

Child poverty is on the rise in Nova Scotia, according to a new report.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released its annual report card on child and family poverty in the province on Tuesday.

The report says the child poverty rate in the province rose from 20.5 per cent in 2021 to 23.8 per cent in 2022 – an increase of 16 per cent. It’s the highest single-year increase since the federal government promised to eradicate the issue 35 years ago.

Nova Scotia continues to have the highest child poverty rate in Atlantic Canada and now ranks fifth highest in the country.

Last year, the centre reported that child poverty dropped dramatically in the province in 2020 due to pandemic financial assistance.

“You’re talking about recovering from COVID, and all the supports that were in from government,” points out Lynne McCarron, executive director of the United Way of Cape Breton.

McCarron says it’s important to look at the 2022 numbers within the proper context, but admits it’s frustrating to see local numbers remain roughly the same, despite a public push to reduce child poverty in Cape Breton more than eight years ago.

“I think I would really like to see this community not lose hope with these numbers and really say, OK, this is an opportunity for us to work together and be able to create some real initiatives, some real programming, some real collective investment in our future,” said McCarron.

Dr. Lesley Frank, who co-authored the report, says the drop in numbers following 2020 shows “the choice to return to insufficient support by 2022 negated all progress.”

"Where we're at now is sort of back to where we were, and we didn't really learn any lessons,” said Frank.

The 2024 report says child poverty rates in the province are highest in Digby, Annapolis County and Cape Breton.

Kerri Fernandez, a social work educator at Cape Breton University, says she sees the ripple effects of child poverty firsthand, like the stress on parents trying to make ends meet at a time when the cost of living is high.

“Of course you would be, when you don't know when your next meal is coming,” she said. “If you don't know if you're going to be evicted from your home, those kind of things. So, from a social worker's perspective, that's what we're looking at."

The report card also found Nova Scotia has some of the highest child food insecurity rates on record, with just over 40 per cent of children – or 71,000 – in the province living in food-insecure homes.

“At the most extreme, children needing to have their meals cut in size and skipping meals in the household,” said Frank.

The report card includes a list of recommendations, including that the province come up with a poverty elimination plan with hard targets and timelines.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.