Researchers at the University of Regina have released a report that concludes Saskatchewan residents, especially the young, are among the poorest in Canada.

The report, based upon the latest data available from Statistics Canada, expands on previous reports and examines overall poverty in the province including poverty rates among families, unattached individuals, and the elderly. It also outlines the growing inequality between the rich and the rest of the population.

Among its conclusions:

• Saskatchewan's overall poverty rate is 15.3 per cent (140,000 people). Canada's poverty rate is 14.5 per cent.
• For Saskatchewan children under 18 years of age, the poverty rate stands at 19.9 per cent (42,000 children), whereas the national average is 15.8 per cent. Saskatchewan is second only to British Columbia (21.9 per cent) in having the highest child poverty rate in Canada.
• The poorest in Saskatchewan are children living in female lone-parent families, with a poverty rate of 47.5 per cent (19,000). The national rate among this group is 42.6 per cent.
• Unattached individuals under 65 years of age face a high rate of poverty at 40.7 per cent (38.4 per cent for males and 43.9 per cent for females).
• Saskatchewan's unattached elderly (over 65) also face a high poverty rate at 28 per cent (13,000). The national rate among unattached elderly is 34.9 per cent.
• The average low-income gap (the amount of money needed to bring Saskatchewan's poor up to the poverty line) is $8,100. For families of two persons or more, the gap is $9,600; for unattached people, $7,300.
• 1.4 per cent of the provincial GDP would lift all of the poor in Saskatchewan from poverty.

The report outlines a number of government actions needed immediately to begin to address poverty in Saskatchewan. Among its recommendations is to implement rent controls similar to those in Manitoba, to end the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement, to allocate the nearly $60 million dollars in savings through the federal reinvestment funds to address the immediate needs of the poorest in our province, to use the Children's Special Allowance (CSA) savings to improve child protection services and, to end the transitional employment allowance program and index social assistance rates to inflation.  To view the full report, click here.