Canada `mediocre' in child welfare

from The toronto Star

Ranks 12th out of 21 nations in survey; concerns raised about drugs, violence

Olivia Ward

Canada is failing to put child welfare on the frontline of social policy, indicates a study released today by the United Nations children's fund, UNICEF.

The overview of child well-being in 21 developed countries rates Canada 12th on the list – tied with Greece, a poorer nation – and far behind the Netherlands and Sweden, which rated first and second.

Britain was lowest on the agency's scale, and the United States ranked second lowest.

But, says Lisa Wolff, UNICEF Canada's director of advocacy and education, "we are in a mediocre position in relation to the most advanced countries in the way we deal with our children."

Although Canada was 6th on the list for material well-being – which includes the percentage of children living in poverty, in households with unemployed parents, and suffering educational deprivation – Wolff said the picture is less rosy on closer examination.

"We have 13.6 per cent of households with an income that is less than 50 per cent of the median. UNICEF believes that should be reduced to 10 per cent, as nine other advanced countries have done.

"When you look at the relative poverty rate, Canada is 15th out of 24 (developed) countries."

And, she says, "what disturbs us is that the relative poverty rate hasn't budged for many years. As a wealthy country we are not doing well enough for our children."

Canadian children appear to be better off on the study's material well-being scale because there are a high number of households with at least one working parent, Wolff adds.

"According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 97 per cent of Canadian families in the past year have at least one parent working.

"That dispels the myth that the poor are mostly unemployed and living on benefits. But it is distressing that so many of those people are among the working poor."

Ottawa should have an action plan for improving child welfare and deliver an annual "report card" on the well-being of children, Wolff said.

The UNICEF study, done by the agency's Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, gave a breakdown of child well-being in six categories.

Canada rated second in the education category, which includes children's literacy, the percentage still in school at age 15 and over, and the percentage of 15-year-olds expecting to find low-skilled work.

By contrast, Britain rated 18th in education and the United States 17th, with Belgium leading the list in first place.

But Canada's overall rating was lowered by poor scores for family and peer relationships (18), risky behaviour such as drinking and drug-taking (17) and feelings of subjective well-being (15).

Wolff said that in Canadian studies of violence against children, bullying by schoolmates was one of their main concerns.