[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto still 'child poverty capital' of Canada, warns report"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC News' Solomon Israel reports on high levels of child poverty in Toronto, poverty concentrated in particular neighbourhoods at that.

Toronto remains Canada's "child poverty capital," with 133,000 children living in poverty according to a new report.

"Divided City: Life in Canada's Child Poverty Capital," released Monday by a partnership of local non-profit groups, describes Toronto as a "deeply divided city" in terms of youth poverty.

"In some neighbourhoods child poverty is almost non-existent, as low as four per cent," said report co-author Michael Polanyi on CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Monday.

"In other neighbourhoods, three neighbourhoods in the city, it's 50 per cent or higher."

Regent Park is the Toronto neighbourhood with the highest rates of child poverty, according to the report, with 58.1 per cent of children living in low-income families, followed by Thorncliffe Park in East York and Oakridge in Scarborough.

In comparison, less than five per cent of children live in low-income families in affluent neighbourhoods like Leaside-Bennington, Lawrence Park South, and Lawrence Park North.