2011 Poverty Study Report

BCAPI has successfully remained focused on its target areas – pregnant teens, single parents, and the children of single parents (priority neighbourhoods were also added as a focus area a few years ago). Through that focus, BCAPI contributed to significant improvements in the rate of poverty among their target groups. The incidence of poverty overall in Saint John has dropped dramatically over the past decade, as has the rate for children (5 to 19 years) specifically. Most priority neighbourhoods have experienced solid reductions and the incidence of low birth weight babies has improved. Unfortunately, the rate of teen pregnancies and the incidence of high school drop-outs have not seen similar reductions.