Saskatchewan ranks third among provinces and territories when it comes to the highest rates of child poverty in Canada.

The 2021 Saskatchewan Child and Poverty Report Card details how the province’s child poverty rate, which peaked in 2004, remains well above the national average.  Manitoba and Nunavut are the only two Canadian jurisdictions which rank higher than Saskatchewan.

Dr. Miguel Sanchez with the University of Regina’s Faculty of Social Work was among the researchers who compiled the report card. He says the report found that highest poverty rate is for children living in single parent families and that less than five per cent of lone-parent families experienced low income.

The 2021 report care also noted that Saskatchewan First Nations, Metis, immigrants and visible minorities have higher poverty rates than the Canadian average.

The data in the report is based off of 2019 numbers. Dr. Sanchez says even tough they don’t have 2020 date yet, the pandemic has likely amplified the child poverty rate. “We are concerned that when we take into consideration the effects of the pandemic, the child poverty rates are going to be much higher. If we already pre-pandemic have above a quarter of children living below the poverty line, imagine what it’s going to be once we can see the effects of COVID.”

One of the recommendations Dr. Sanchez made in the report to help reduce child poverty is to increase federal transfers through social assistance. The national rate of child poverty is 17.7 per cent.