Analysis Of The Article ' Child Poverty Capital Of Canada ' Article By Laurie Monsebraanten

The Toronto Star published an article reporting that Toronto currently has the highest rate of children living in households that are considered low income in Canada (Monsebraaten, 2015). The article reports that in Toronto the child poverty rate is higher than the poverty rate of any other age group. This paper will discuss child poverty, how this is a challenge to public health practices and policies, and finally, discuss potential solutions for public policy that address this issue.

A nation-wide social issue in contemporary Canadian society is relative poverty. Universal basic income (UBI), or ‘basic income’, is a model which aims to eliminate it. In this response, I will argue that UBI can reduce relative poverty in Canada. Subsequently, that the reduction of relative poverty will also improve both physical and mental health as well as diminish income discrimination in Canada. Since income inequality not only creates poverty but also is a social determinant of health. To accomplish this, I briefly outline the current state of Canadian poverty, the tenets of UBI, and the benefits that can stem from its establishment. Concludingly, discussing a measuring mechanism to ensure that the relative poverty is being resolved.

Poverty is a serious issue in Canada needs to be addressed promptly. Poverty is not simply about the lack of money an individual has; it is much more than that. The World Bank Organization defines poverty by stating that, “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time”. In Canada, 14.9 percent of Canada’s population has low income as Statistics Canada reports, which is roughly about two million of Canadians in poverty or on the verge of poverty. In addition, according to an UNICEF survey, 13.3 percent of Canadian children live in

The United States is the richest nation, yet millions of Americans live below the poverty line and millions more struggle every month. The children in society today living in poverty is increasing daily. The majority of these children are from single-parent homes where sometimes parents are not working or have become disabled and therefore cannot work. Children who are raised in foster care and leave as adults do not have strong relationship ties most of the time and are at an increased risk for experiencing poverty, early parenthood and homelessness (American School Board Journal, 2007). The reason for most of the poverty in the United States is due to low family incomes.

Although Canada is a rich country there are still people who live in poverty, “In 2011, the government classified about 4.7 million men, women and children –– almost 15 percent of the Canadian population –– as poor” (Macionis, Janson, Benoit, & Burkowicz, 2017) but Canada calculates its poverty rate by “one popular measure known as the LICO, a family has an income below the low income cut-off of it spends more than 63 percent of its after-tax income on the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, including corrections for different family sizes and the cost of living in particular communities.”

According to CBCnews, “The number of families living in poverty in Toronto is increasing...The United Way of Greater Toronto says 30 percent of Toronto families,

Duffy and Mandell portray many themes around poverty in their article “poverty in Canada”, but there is one word that really symbolizes the main theme, and

It is the assumption of many that Canada is a nation free of racism. Canadians pride themselves on being culturally diverse and accepting, and on having relatively progressive social policies such as that of universal healthcare. However, there are many ways in which the current and historical policies have expressed explicit racism that have left an already marginalized population with the crumbs of society. A prime example of this can be demonstrated in the mass overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in care. By the year 2010, there were around twenty-seven thousand Indigenous children in the Canadian child welfare system who were living in some sort of out-of-home care (Chappell, 2014). Although they represented only seven percent of the children in Canada, they made up 48 percent of all children in foster care. (Yukselir & Annett, 2016). This phenomenon is not a recent trend, as it has been occurring since the very creation of modern child welfare in Canada as it is known, and it has its roots deep in Canadian history. This paper will demonstrate a timeline of the events which have lead to this phenomenon in Canada, specifically focusing on the province of Ontario. Important facts which may have contributed to the overrepresentation of this population will be discussed, such as historical methods of colonization in regards to child welfare including the implementation of the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop. Policies that have also had a profound impact,

For example, the report gives statistics on how many more children live in low-income families, and how factors such as ethnicity, immigration status, disability can change the way poverty affects the individual’s life. This article is organized very well, in a sequential manner in which one can easily find information relevant to their research by simply looking at the contents list (and the subheadings listed under different chapters). The introduction is concise and formal, however there is not a titled conclusion, rather the last section summarizes the points given. This report does not have a definitive bias as the sections explain what is previously given through statistics, thus there is is not an evident opinion (other than that poverty should be extinguished. There are not suggestions for further reading in the report, however the website in which it was found gave suggestions of other articles related to child poverty. The entire article has an abundance information that would be helpful to the social issues project, specifically statistics on how it affects the quality of life of children and ways to overcome the issue of poverty in Toronto. This report would be very helpful for those who are researching about children living in low-income families, poverty, and solutions to poverty. There are some limitations within the article for example data collection, especially because there is not official poverty line. More information on data limitations are given in the appendix. The Hidden Epidemic will contribute to my project by helping to narrow which subdivision of poverty to focus on and to further understand how poverty transpires in Canada’s most well known

Poverty is a significant threat to women’s equality. In Canada, more women live in poverty than men, and women’s experience of poverty can be harsher, and more prolonged. Women are often left to bear more burden of poverty, leading to ‘Feminization of poverty’. Through government policy women inequality has resulted in more women and children being left in poverty with no means of escaping. This paper will identify some key aspects of poverty for Canadian women. First, by identifying what poverty entails for Canadian women, and who is more likely to feel the brunt of it. Secondly the discussion of why women become more susceptible to poverty through government policy and programs. Followed by the effects that poverty on women plays in

Statistics show that Canada's child poverty rate was higher in 2013 than in 1989, with 1,334,930 Canadian children (19%) living in poverty in 2013 (Khanna, et al, 2015, p. 3). Child poverty can affect any group, however, members of marginalized communities are often the most severely affected (Khanna et al, 2015, p. 3). The distribution of child poverty rates in Canada is attributable to many factors. The following description will focus on some of these main factors as they relate to the distribution of child poverty in Canada.

Canada is regarded as one of the wealthiest industrialized countries in the world. This indication is contrary to the well-being reality affecting Canadians. Despite being part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD), Canada has lagged behind her otherwise wealthy counterparts in the industrialized countries being position 19 out of 22 nations (Breznitz and Zysman, 2013). This has been attributed to the precarious levels of poverty in a majority of Canadian households. The country has not recognized any official poverty measurement although other universal measures such as LICO is used for measuring relative poverty, a more determinable measure of poverty for wealthy countries.

Personally, I had the idea that choosing child poverty in Australia would be an issue that could be a bigger problem in the future and I wanted it to stop so Child Poverty in Australia can be prevented and other countries can also recognise about the social actions made to stop Child Poverty in their respective Countries.

Peel’s low-income population is increasing as people are faced with unemployment and other stess-induced dilemmas. As a matter of fact, 12.6% of people are living in low-income, which is the second highest in the GTA (Dale 2015). ¬ Therefore, it is appropriate to say that poverty is one of the key issues in the Peel Region. Furthermore, the unemployment rate remains high at 8.2% and its youth unemployment rate at 18.7% (Dale 2015). Since, many people are losing their jobs and remain unemployed this leads to them being unable to properly provide for their families or themselves. Poverty does not just affect the individual or the family itself, it also negatively impacts the wider community. There were 61,300 children who lived in poverty during 2006 (Berghezan 2008)

The last group of sources I’d like to touch upon are news outlets such as the Oakville Beaver, Huffington Post Canada, and the Toronto Star, which feature articles on the rising rates of poverty in the suburbs and housing market increases throughout the years. An article by Daniel Tencer for Huffington Post Canada discusses the growth of suburban poverty through food bank statistics and Professor David Hulchanski’s “three cities” report from 2010 which shows poverty in Toronto shifting out of the city center and into surrounding areas. The Oakville Beaver is a good source for articles focusing on the town itself such as a 2011 article on the rising rates of poverty in Oakville that covers statistics and what the city has been doing to help aid those in need. This source also led me to the Oakville Chamber of Commerce site which