The Well-Being of Canada's Young Children - Government of Canada Report 2008

Chapter 6 - What Type of Communities Are Young Children Living In?

... Most young children live in neighbourhoods that are safe and cohesive.

A sense of safety in a neighbourhood includes the feeling of comfort with neighbours as well as spaces designed for children (e.g., parks and playgrounds) within the surrounding area. In 2004/05, 77.7% of young children lived in neighbourhoods considered safe by their parents – up from 75.8% in 2000/01.

Most parents also consider their neighbourhoods to be cohesive, which is one which parents felt had a high level of social unity and good neighbour relations. In 2004/05, 86.4% of parents with young children reported living in a cohesive neighbourhood, up from 84.9% in 1998/99

... Perceptions of the safety and cohesion of a neighbourhood vary

In 2004/05, parents of young children living in rural areas were more likely to report that their neighbourhoods were safe than urban parents – 78.2% compared to 77.7% respectively, up from 77.4% and 75.5% in 2000/01.

Parents of young children in rural neighbourhoods were also more likely to view their neighbourhoods cohesive than their urban counterparts. In 2004/05, 93% of young children in rural areas lived in a neighbourhood that their parents considered was cohesive, compared to 85.6% of children in urban centres. For both rural and urban children, this is a marked increase since 1989/99 when the percentages were 89.4% and 84.2% respectively.

Text description of Figure 23

There is a slight gender gap in the perception of neighbourhood safety, with 78.4% of parents of young males reporting that their neighbourhood was safe compared to 77% of parents of young females. This is up from 75.9% for males and 75.6% for females, in 2000/01. At the same time, there is little variance in the perception of neighbourhood cohesion by gender. In 2004/05, 86.4% of parents of young males and 86.5% of parents of young females reported living in cohesive neighbourhoods – up from 85.5% and 84.2% in 1998/99.

Why is this important?

Living in a safe and violent-free neighbourhood is important to a child's development. Exposure to neighbourhood violence has been linked to emotional and behavioural problems in young children, such as difficulties in going to sleep, feelings easily hurt, being over overactive and arguing a lot.⁹⁵ There is also evidence that community violence can impact IQ scores and reading ability, and result in a child experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.⁹⁶

A highly cohesive neighbourhood is associated with better outcomes for children's verbal abilities, while low levels of neighbourhood cohesion are associated with behaviour problems in children⁹⁷. In addition, high neighbourhood cohesion can have a protective effect, helping to shield young children from injury⁹⁸ and providing social networks that act as “supportive enclaves” to help mitigate safety concerns in a neighbourhood.⁹⁹

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• ⁹⁵ Linares, L. O., et al (2001). “A Mediational Model for the Impact of Exposure to Community Violence on Early Child Behavior Problems.” Child Development. 72(2): 639-652. ^{Click to return to reference}
• ⁹⁶ Lynch, M. (2003). “Consequences of Children's Exposure to Community Violence.” Clinical Child and Family Psychological Review. 6(4): 265-274. ^{Click to return to reference}
• ⁹⁷ Kohen et al. (2002). “Neighborhood Income and Physical and Social Disorder in Canada: Associations with Young Children's Competencies.” Child Development. 73(6): 1844-1860. ^{Click to return to reference}
• ⁹⁸ Soubhi, H., et al. (2001). “Effects of Effects of Neighbourhood, Family and Child Behaviour on Injury in Canada.” Ottawa: Human Resources Development Canada. Available online at: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/cs/sp/sdc/pkrf/publications/research/2001-000067/page00.shtml. ^{Click to return to reference}
• ⁹⁹ Maggi, S. et al. (2005). “Analytic and Strategic Review Paper: International Perspectives on Early Child Development.” World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Available at: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/ecd.pdf. ^{Click to return to reference}