About 170,000 Canadian children had a parent in jail over a six-year span, a new study shows.
The estimate comes from a first-of-its-kind study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One. It tracked data from five provinces between 2015 and 2021, and found that thousands of children experienced a parent going to jail — some more than once. Until now, available data didn’t capture how many children were affected by having a jailed parent or how it shapes their lives, a gap researchers say has made it difficult to design effective supports and services.
Of course the parents who aren’t in jail will have to pony up for this latest crusade to “fix” the unfixable.
