by Julia Parrish, ctvedmonton.ca

November 23, 2001

A new report by three organizations was released Wednesday, and shows a startling growth in the number of families in Alberta struggling to make ends meet.

The report, titled In This Together: Ending Poverty in Alberta was released Wednesday morning by The Edmonton Social Planning Council, Public Interest Alberta and the Alberta College of Social Workers.

The thirteen-page document takes an in-depth look at the tens of thousands of children currently living in poverty in Alberta.

According to statistics from 2009, 73,000 children, (18 per cent) were living in poverty that year - a 40 per cent increase from the previous year.

The report says the poverty rate was even higher for younger children, with one in eight, or 34,000 children under the age of six living in poverty.

A number of recommendations to improve the circumstances of Albertans living in poverty were also outlined in the report.

The full report can be found online.

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