Children and Youth

Life has improved for many of our children, but we need to do more.

Overview

Children need a good start in life. The better they thrive in school, at home and at play, the greater their chances of becoming happy, successful adults who keep our community strong.

Citizen Grade

C+

Citizen Priorities

  • 19% More affordable childcare
  • 15% Decrease child poverty

  • Children’s vulnerability 29%

    of kindergarten children struggle to meet desired developmental targets for their age 2009

  • Food banks 40%

    of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society’s clients are children — higher than the provincial average of 31% 2009

  • Fruits and veggies 54%

    of our youth don’t eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies, and consume them less frequently than Toronto or Montreal 2009

  • Physical activity 74%

    of youth age 12 to 19 take part in moderate or higher levels of physical activity — our youth exercise more than those in Montreal or Toronto 2009

View All
  • Trends Children’s vulnerability

    In some ways, the lives of our children seem to be improving, but many children still lack basic needs like food and a roof over their heads.

    • Even though our poverty rate has improved, the vulnerability of our kindergarten children is increasing in metro Vancouver. The Early Development Index used a questionnaire to measure children’s vulnerability in 2008-09. The study found our children are increasingly vulnerable in physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, and communication and general knowledge. Only their language and cognitive development was not showing increased vulnerability.
      Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC
    • New Westminster made considerable improvements in decreasing the vulnerability of its children across all Early Development Index scales from 2001 to 2009.
      Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC
    • Three-quarters (76%) of Vancouver youth rate their mental health as very good or excellent, but youth in Calgary and Toronto say they feel better: 82% of youth in Calgary and 87% of youth in Toronto rate their mental health very good or excellent.
      Canadian Community Health Survey
    • Nearly one-third (31%) of the people who use BC’s food banks are children, while their Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society estimates 40% of their clients were children.
      Canadian Association of Food Banks Hunger Count 2009 and Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society
  • Challenges Unemployment and the recession

    Getting a foothold in life is always a challenge for young people in our region. Starting in 2008, it became more difficult than ever for youth to find work, whether it was a summer job, work out of high school or their first career position.

    • Unemployment for youth age 15 to 24 jumped 58% from 2008 to 2009, to a rate of 12%.
    • In Toronto, youth unemployment was even higher at 19%, and in Montreal it was 18%.
      Community Foundations of Canada
  • Progress Child poverty decreasing

    Our child poverty rate peaked at 22% in 2002 but the good news is it has improved remarkably. The bad news is 13% of our children still live in poverty

    • The rate has steadily declined from 2004 to 2008, which reflects a national decline. However, our child poverty rate is still higher than Calgary and Toronto.
      Community Foundations of Canada
Download Full Data
  • Children and Youth - In-depth information - Preview

    Early Childhood

    Daycare

    27,139 child care spaces in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby and North Shore municipalities
    2010

    Median spending

    $2,450 was the annual median amount spent on child care costs, higher than both Toronto and Montreal
    2007

    Child care costs

    Increased at least 10% over three years for Vancouver children under 5
    2009

    Youth and transition age (18-19)

    Youth mental health

    76% of youth rate their mental heath as very good or excellent – in Calgary it’s 82% and Toronto 87%
    2009

    Youth unemployment

    jumped 58% in just one year for ages 15 to 24
    2009

    Health

    Infant deaths

    Our infant mortality rate was 3.5 deaths for every 1,000 births
    2007

    Underweight babies

    5.6% of newborns had a low birth weight (under 2,500 grams) — a rate that was lower than the Canadian average
    2008-09

    Vulnerability

    Child poverty

    down to 13% from a high of 22% in 2004 and reflects a national trend
    2008

    Poverty under six

    17% of children under six live in poverty after tax and 22% before tax
    2006

Our Blog

More from our blog →

Events

There are currently no events.

  • Media Coverage
    • News & More