In recent years, Alberta’s economy has been booming. Jobs are plentiful and the signs of prosperity are everywhere. After factoring out inflation, Alberta’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has more than doubled in the past twenty years. As a result, the Alberta government has enjoyed successive multi-billion dollar budget surpluses. Yet not all Alberta families are sharing in this prosperity. Poverty persists in the midst of plenty. Some of this poverty is easy to see, as evidenced by the growing number of Albertans who are homeless. This includes a growing number of families with children. But for every homeless child, there are many more children who live in families with too little income to make ends meet. While these children are less visible, the challenges they face are just as real. It is these children and their families who use food banks and school lunch programs where they are available, or go hungry when they are not. It is these children who are more likely to live in overcrowded or unsafe housing, which, in turn, could put them at greater risk of involvement with children and youth services. And it is these children who are more likely to find it harder to learn at school, or to participate in school activities. The impacts of poverty are long-lasting and make it more difficult for them to succeed when they reach adulthood. Alberta’s strong record of economic and employment growth has resulted in a child poverty rate somewhat lower than in 1989 though still much higher than it should be. The 2006 federal Census found that 77,595 Alberta children under the age of 18 years are living in low income after-tax. While at 10.3% Alberta had the second lowest child poverty rate among the Canadian provinces, this still leaves more than one in ten Alberta children living in economic poverty (see Chart 1). It is not just the children in low income families who pay an unacceptably high price for living in poverty – we all do. Children who grow up in low income families typically do less well in school, earn lower incomes, and generate additional costs for the justice, health and social service systems. A recent American study found that child poverty directly cost the United States economy US $500 Billion per year, or the equivalent of nearly 4 percent of GDP. Another study done in the United Kingdom found the economic cost to that country of child poverty was at least 25 Billion British pounds per year ($50 Billion Canadian), 17 Billion pounds of which accrued to the British treasury due to extra expenditure and foregone tax revenues. If we apply a similar calculation to Canada, a comparable yearly estimate of the economic cost of poverty would range from $50 to $100 Billion, and $5 to $10 Billion a year for Alberta. This is a high price to pay for something we can change.