The Social Issue Of Canada

Poverty rates in Canada have not changed since past 2 decades (Lecture slides). Reasons for hope starts off with Canada's federal and provincial government anti-poverty strategies and programs that help people in poverty and has kept poverty rates from being even higher (Raphael, 2011, pg. 439). Every province offers some types of programs that are receptive, which is better than USA, but not comparable to Nordic countries. Hope is also present that political parties such as NDP, BLOC and Liberal will strengthen Canada's government and lead to many more policies which will reduce poverty (Raphael, 2011, pg.459). In addition, Canada still offers a universal healthcare system accessible to everyone, universal child care and free pharmaceutical for elderly (June 15 Lecture). These programs support and set the foundation for those people who are experiencing extreme poverty and those are low income. Canada also offers the Senate report, House of Commons report and Campaign 2000 report to raise awareness, keep track of rate of poverty and provide recommendations (June 15 Lecture). Health units in Ontario also add on to hope, they provide community health programs, disease prevention strategies and promote healthy lifestyles (June 15 Lecture). These health units are located in many cities such as York

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

Grace Abbott once said, “Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.” Child poverty is one of the biggest issues facing Canadian children today. Child poverty can significantly shorten a child’s life. One of the major reasons child poverty in Canada is so high is because of low wages. These children have a disadvantage to all the other children in Canada. There is major inequality among these children. There are many problems that come out of child poverty and effect the children directly. This paper will talk about the four major effects of child poverty; health issues and nutrition, emotional and behavioural issues, education, and their home environment. (Introduction: dimensions of children’s inequality, 2003).

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.”

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

According to Chapter 1 of the book "Poverty In Canada", poverty refers to conditions where people lack resources to attain proper diet, participate in community activities, and the living conditions in the society they live in. Poverty can be absolute where people do not have enough resources to survive, or relative where people are not able to participate in common daily activities. The groups who are most likely to experience poverty in Canada are Aboriginal Canadians, women, unattached adults, people of color, persons with disabilities, and recent immigrants to Canada. The reason many of these groups live in poverty is because they work low-wage occupations. For groups such as, people with disabilities, people receiving social assistance,

There is a national consciousness in Canada about global poverty reduction, with 94% of Canadians saying it is important to improve health, education and economic opportunity for the world’s poorest, and 76% of Canadians agreeing we have a moral obligation to help expand health, education, and economic opportunity for the world’s

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

Poverty, by definition, means “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support.” (Poverty Definition, n.d.) Although Canada is a prosperous country and holds a position as one of the top 20 richest countries in the world, poverty is still prevalent. The question poverty holds is; does poverty have a positive or negative impact in the Canadian society? Poverty is a significant discussion because it is a complex epidemic that has significant implications for the entire society as it affects thousands of families in Canada. Many Canadian families today face poverty due to the change of socio-economic trends, and/or other factors such as unemployment or low income, lack of education, divorces, drug addictions, and

Inequality in Canada is not as prominent as many other places around the world, although it does remain in certain segments of Canada. There are many forms of inequality in Canada and internationally, although this papers main focus is going to be the inequality of wealth. According to Steven Kerstetter “Canadians may view their country as a land of opportunity, but it is also a land of deep and abiding inequality in the distribution of personal wealth” (Kerstetter 2002). The “gaps between the rich and poor remain evident in Canadian statistics” (Kerstetter 2002), Canadians have always kept financial security as an essential element of life and have tried to obtain and sustain it within their lives. Frank Cunningham’s article, “What’s

Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, however, many citizens are below the blurred poverty line. (251). The poverty line in Canada is measured by the LICO-IAT (boooook) and the MBM (253). The resources for those below the poverty line are very poor; food banks and shelters are unable to uphold the amount of people that are in need of them. (252). Among the poor, many people have paid employment, however, it is not enough.

Poverty is defined as “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. (Dictionary)” Poverty is a worldwide dilemma, but more importantly, it is a dilemma in what is considered to be a developed country, like Canada. The organization Canada Without Poverty is a “federally incorporated, non-partisan, not-for-profit and charitable organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty in Canada (Canada Without Poverty)”, that believes poverty is a human rights violation. Usually from what social class an individual is categorized in, it will determine if there are currently in or on the verge of, poverty. There are different forms of poverty, absolute and relative poverty for example, but

Poverty: The state of being extremely poor. The state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.

Currently there are many problems and flaws with the way the Canadian government’s policies deal with healthcare, income inequality and poverty. Time to time changes in policies have been made, perhaps to improve these issues, however, the gap between rich and poor keeps increasing and there is very little improvement in healthcare and the economy. In fact, healthcare keeps on becoming costly. Major issues like income inequality and poverty are not being taken care of by the government. According to Dr. Raphael (2002) poverty is caused by several reasons such as inequality in people’s income, weak social services and lack of other social supports (p.VI). He states, “Poverty directly harms the health of those with low incomes while income