Breaking the cycle of poverty for children and youth
Ontario’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy lifted 47,000 children and their families out of poverty and prevented thousands more from falling into poverty.
Our second strategy recommits to reducing child poverty in Ontario by 25 per cent through targeted investments and supports for children and youth.
We must ensure that children and youth get the best start in life through strategic investments in education, health care and community supports in order to end intergenerational poverty.
We have made steady progress towards meeting our target of reducing child poverty by 25%. Between 2008 and 2011, we lifted 47,000 children and their families out of poverty. We also prevented 61,000 children and their families from falling into poverty. We know there is more to do and we will continue to build on our progress to improve the everyday lives of children and their families.
Key achievements in 2014
In 2014, some of the steps we took to help reduce child poverty include:
- Increasing the Ontario Child Benefit to a maximum annual benefit of $1,310 per child under 18. It is now indexed to the Ontario Consumer Price Index to help families keep up with inflation.
- Providing more than $1 billion in annual childcare funding, double the amount of funding provided in 2003-04.
- Completing the rollout of Full-Day Kindergarten in publicly funded schools and saving families an average of $6,500 per year in childcare costs.
- More than 470,000 children in Full-Day Kindergarten by the end of the 2014-15 school year.
- Expanding the Youth-In-Transition Worker Program to support youth leaving foster care. There are now 60 workers across the province, including 19 for Aboriginal youth.
- Implementing 190 new Student Nutrition Programs, reaching approximately 31,000 more children and youth with a nutritious breakfast at school.
- Providing more support to nearly 300 existing Student Nutrition Programs, serving 756,800 students.
Moving forward, we will continue to promote the health and well-being of our children, raise achievement in our schools, remove barriers and create more opportunities for our vulnerable youth.
Read the 2014 Annual Report.
Resources for low-income families
Programs and resources to help low-income families
Financial benefits
Financial support for child care
Financial benefits for children and youth
Mental health support and services
Services for youth leaving care
Supports available to youth once they leave care of a children’s aid society at 18