Despite boasting Canada’s lowest unemployment rate<\/strong>, Saskatchewan is failing its most vulnerable residents \u2014 with more than one in five children living in poverty<\/strong>, according to a new assessment from Food Banks Canada.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The province received a D+ grade<\/strong> for its efforts to address poverty, a mark that researchers say reflects a fundamental policy failure rather than an economic one.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As economic pressures continue to mount for low-income households, Food Banks Canada concluded that social assistance rates in Saskatchewan are not sufficient to cover basic living costs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The finding raises pointed questions about the gap between the province’s strong labour market performance and the conditions faced by those outside it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Simon Enoch, a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives<\/strong>, said the numbers are consistent with a long-standing structural problem.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “These numbers aren’t at all a surprise,” Enoch said, pointing to the provincial government’s absence of a formal anti-poverty strategy<\/strong> as a key driver of the troubling figures.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Saskatchewan joins several other provinces facing scrutiny over child poverty rates that persist even as labour markets remain relatively healthy \u2014 a pattern advocates say demands targeted social investment rather than reliance on employment statistics alone.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Report Card Exposes Gap Between Economic Strength and Social Support Despite boasting Canada’s lowest unemployment rate, Saskatchewan is failing its most vulnerable residents \u2014 with more than one in five children living in poverty, according to a new assessment from Food Banks Canada. The province received a D+ grade for its efforts to address poverty, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSocial Assistance Falls Short<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
‘Not a Surprise,’ Says Researcher<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n