West Van kindergartners at risk: Study
West Vancouver may be one of the most affluent communities in Canada, but a recent report shows there are some out-of-sight issues like poverty among single-parent families and seniors, and a high percentage of children entering kindergarten who are considered vulnerable.
“We’re sometimes viewed as the smug village of West Vancouver, but we’re not like that at all. We have a lot of work still to do,” said Nancy Farron, the chair of the West Vancouver Community Foundation.
The recently released annual Vital Signs report showed the number of kindergartners in the West Vancouver school district considered vulnerable continues to rise.
In 2013, 22 per cent of students starting kindergarten in the West Vancouver school district were deemed vulnerable according to the scale’s five measurements, which are linguistic preparedness, socialization, physical health and well-being, general knowledge and emotional maturity.
That figure increased to 33 per cent this year, and in the British Properties specifically, it’s 43 per cent — significantly higher than the overall provincial vulnerability rate of 32.5 per cent.
“In the British Properties, you have people able to afford the big gated homes, but there’s a lot of isolation up there. If you don’t have community, what do you have?” Farron said.
“We need to do better work so these people feel they belong. When we have the same shared language it’s easier, but when you don’t have that, it’s harder to fit in.”
Farron her sense is once children enter the school system they can pick up quickly and the West Vancouver Community Foundation, knowing this was an issue from past years’ research, has invested in this area. For instance, a program called the Properties Family Hub was created offering multi-generational community health and education programs for families, seniors, singles and children.
Sandra-Lynn Shortall, district principal of early learning for the West Vancouver school district, said the school district donated a portable for the Properties Family Hub program three years ago when this issue was first identified in the community. She said other than a private country club in the British Properties, there had been no community gathering place for residents there.
Another challenge identified by the Vital Signs report is the high number of working poor in the community. According to the report, 1,407 people living in West Vancouver — 7.5 per cent of the population — who are working age have earnings below the poverty line, an increase from the 2006 rate of 6.5 per cent.
West Vancouver’s rate of child poverty of 18.5 per cent of children 17 and under living in low-income families is also comparable to Metro Vancouver’s child poverty rate of 19.5 per cent.
The study suggests seniors on a fixed income are also struggling. The report found 10 per cent of West Vancouver seniors are considered low income, compared to the Metro Vancouver rate of 15.5 per cent and the provincial rate of 13.9 per cent.