Hamilton poverty

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One in five children in the greater Hamilton area are living in poverty, that according to a new study by the city. The report comes out just a day before Hamilton hosts a national poverty summit.

15% of people living in Hamilton are living below the poverty line and 22 000 of them are children under the age of 17. In the lower half of the city, wards 1 through 5 it’s more than 30%, that’s 1 in 3 children.

The mountain has about 22% of children living in poverty and then in Stoney Creek it’s 13% of children who are living in poverty.

Those numbers may sound shocking but not to the people who work to fight against it. Good Sheppard food bank serves more than 2,200 families a month. And CityKidz says it’s programs like there’s that work with kids from lower income families by the time they are 3 until they turn 18 that can really help.

On Tuesday a summit on reducing poverty will be held at the Hamilton Convention centre and mayors from Hamilton, Mississauga and St. Catherines will all be in attendance.

City council will also be tackling the issue of poverty during Wednesday’s council meeting, debating how they will spend $50 million over the next 10 years to fight the problem.