Making The Grade On International Children's Day

Majority (71%) Give Federal Government A `C' Or Lower For Efforts To Improve The Situation Of Children In Canada Since 2002 Yet Canadians Themselves, On Average, Score 33% On Children's Issues Quiz

19 November 2004

Trends & Prospective

Toronto, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid/Save the Children study, a majority of Canadians give the Federal Government a `C' or lower for their efforts to improve the situation of children in Canada since 2002.

After being told that "in 2002, the United Nations unanimously adopted a declaration and plan of action to improve the situation of children around the world and each county agreed to prepare national plans of action based on their own circumstances," Canadians were asked to think about the Government of Canada's efforts to improve the situation of children here in Canada over the last couple of years, and to rate the Government based on this. More than four in ten (44%) Canadians gave the Government of Canada a grade of `C' when it came to their efforts to improve the situation of children in Canada, 20% gave a `D' and 7% gave the Federal Government an `F'. On the other hand, 21% of Canadians gave the Government of Canada a `B' for their efforts and 3% gave an `A'.

Asked to choose the correct response from a set of four on a recently administered quiz for International Children's Day, on average, Canadians scored 33% overall. Just 3% scored 80% on the child day quiz and no Canadians answered all five questions correctly.

Just over half (56%) of Canadians chose the correct answer of 1 in 6 when asked the approximate "number of Canadian children living in poverty in 2003."

One-third (35%) of Canadians chose the correct response of 8,500 from a list of four options when asked to approximate the number of Canadian children and youth under 18 years of age who were victims of family-related assaults in 2002.

Canadians were asked to choose from a list of four possible responses, the one that most closely approximated "the number of positive HIV test reports of Canadian children under 15 years of age between 1985 and 2002," just 3 in 10 (28%) correctly answered 700.

Three in ten (27%) Canadians chose `20%", the correct response, of the percentage of Canadian children, excluding residents of Quebec, who require regulated childcare and have access to such care.

Finally, when asked approximately how many Canadian provinces and territories allow children under age 14 to work, just two in ten (19%) Canadians chose 5, the correct answer.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Save the Children poll conducted from November 9th to November 11th, 2004. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1002 adult Canadian was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the Canadian Census data.

The Government Of Canada Gets A `C' In Its Efforts To Improve The Situation Of Children In Canada Since 2002

After being told that "in 2002, the United Nations unanimously adopted a declaration and plan of action to improve the situation of children around the world and each county agreed to prepare national plans of action based on their own circumstances," Canadians were asked to think about the Government of Canada's efforts to improve the situation of children here in Canada over the last couple of years, and to rate the Government based on this. More than four in ten (44%) Canadians gave the Government of Canada a grade of `C' when it came to their efforts to improve the situation of children in Canada. Just 3% of Canadians give the Government of Canada an `A', two in ten (21%) a `B' or a `C' (20%), and 7% the failing grade of `F'. Only 5% of Canadians say they "don't know" how they would rate the Government of Canada in terms of its' efforts to improve the situation of children in Canada.

Young adults 18-34 years of age are more likely than their elders to have given the Government of Canada an `A' or a `B' (33% vs. 19%), while those 35 and older are more likely than young adults to have given an `F' (9% vs. 4%).

Canadians Fail The International Children's Day Quiz

Asked to choose the correct response from a set of four on the International Children's Day quiz, on average, Canadians received a failing grade of 33%. One in seven (14%) did not get any correct responses, 32% answered one question correctly, 33% answered two questions correctly, 17% answered three questions correctly, and 3% answered four questions correctly. No Canadians answered all five questions correctly.

Canadians living in British Columbia (36%), on average, score the highest, followed closely by those in Ontario (35%), Alberta (34%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (33%), Atlantic Canada (31%), and Quebec (29%).
Canadians 18-54 years of age (34%), on average, score slightly better than those 55 and older (30%).
University grads (37%), on average, score better than those with a college diploma or some university (33%), those with a high school diploma (30%), and those with less than a high school diploma (28%).

Number Of Children Living In Poverty

Just over half (56%) of Canadians chose the correct answer of 1 in 6 when asked the approximate "number of Canadian children living in poverty in 2003."

Those living in British Columbia (62%) are the most likely to have answered this question correctly, followed by those in Alberta (58%), Ontario (56%), Quebec (53%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (53%), and Atlantic Canada (52%).
University grads are more likely than others to have answered this question correctly (65% vs. 52%).

Number Of Children And Youth Under 18 Who Are Victims Of Family-Related Assaults In 2002

Canadians living in British Columbia (40%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (39%) were the most likely to choose the correct response, followed by those in Ontario (35%), Quebec (34%), Alberta (34%), and further behind by residents of Atlantic Canada (27%).
Canadians 18-34 years of age (40%) are the most likely to have answered this question correctly, followed by those 35-54 years of age (34%), and those 55 and older (30%).

Number Of Positive HIV Tests Reports Of Canadian Children Under 15 Between 1985 And 2002

Residents of Ontario (34%) were the most likely to choose the correct answer, followed by those in Alberta (32%), British Columbia (27%), Atlantic Canada (25%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (21%), and Quebec (21%).

Percentage Of Canadian Children Who Require And Have Access To Regulated Childcare

Three in ten (27%) Canadians chose the correct response for "excluding Quebec, the percentage of Canadian children who require regulated childcare and have access to such care is approximately..." the correct response is 20%.

Canadians living in Ontario (32%) are the most likely to have chosen the correct response, followed by those in British Columbia (31%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (30%), Atlantic Canada (24%), Alberta (22%), and Quebec (19%).
Women are more likely than men to have answered this question correctly (32% vs. 22%).

Number Of Provinces/Territories That Allow Children Under 14 To Work

Finally, when asked approximately how many Canadian provinces and territories allow children under age 14 to work, just two in ten (19%) Canadians chose 5, the correct answer.

Residents of Atlantic Canada (26%) are the most likely to have chose the correct response, followed by those in Alberta (24%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (23%), British Columbia (18%), Ontario (18%), and Quebec (17%).

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900

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