Governments across Canada including Saskatchewan are not telling the truth about child poverty.

That is one of the findings in a 2019 report from the University of Regina.

In part two of CJWW’s five part series on the report, a look at how governments are fudging the numbers.

Co-author Miguel Sanchez says the government’s formula for determining how many children live below the poverty line called the Market Basket Measure is misleading.

Sanchez states the formula made by governments for governments doesn’t tell the true story as it was developed by Social Service ministers from across the country.

The Associate Professor of Social Work says their report which determined Saskatchewan has the third-highest rate in the country at about 26-percent is based on a scale depending on family size.

Sanchez believes the Census Family Low Income Measure is more accurate and accepted as the true formula for determining the number of children living below the poverty line by the United Nations and other international agencies.

The report, “Child and Family Poverty in Saskatchewan” states child poverty in Saskatchewan never fell below 26.2-percent over a ten year period beginning in 2008.

In tomorrow’s third part, Sanchez points out the province could have put more money aside to fight child poverty during years of economic prosperity.