Skip to content

Langley City has high child poverty level

A child poverty study shows Langley City has high levels.
32671langleyadvanceLangArt_news

Langley City has the second-highest rate of child poverty in the Lower Mainland, according to a study by a B.C. advocacy group.

A full 22 per cent of children in the City live in poverty, according to a report card on child poverty by First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.

Burnaby also has 22 per cent of children in poverty. Richmond tops the list in the Lower Mainland at 24 per cent. Coquitlam and Surrey both had 21 per cent.

Langley Township’s rate of 13 per cent is below the provincial average of 19.8 per cent.

Very small, relatively affluent communities like Anmore (11 per cent) and Bowen Island (12 per cent) had the lowest child poverty rates.

First Call mapped child poverty in Langley, showing that even in Langley City there were sharp regional differences. In eastern downtown Langley City, location of most of the community’s older rental apartments, the child poverty rate was 46.6 per cent.

South of the Nicomekl River, it was just 8.9 per cent.

The provincial child poverty average has declined from 20.4 per cent in 2013 to 19.8 per cent in 2014, the most recent year from which statistics are available.