What Kind of Impacts Does Shrinking Families Have on Canada

The Canadian family has been changing drastically over the 20th century. The definition of family has changed, along with the functions of families. Many modern families have veered from what we once considered the tradition family. This essay will discuss the different types of newly developed families, and some factors contributing to this change.

The Suburban Select segment comprises of Canadian parents between 35 to 49 years of age with university level education or postgraduate degrees; the life cycle is considered to be middle-aged achievers. This segment consists of Canada’s up-and-coming business class families; an affluent suburban family with dual-income couples (Household income $75M+) typically living with at least one child aged 12 to 17 years (Household size 3+). Given the segments’ high percentage of professionals, senior managers, and business owners there

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

Could it be that Canada is a desired place to raise children from the amount of assistance the Government gives? Findings include; where education is low, poverty is as well. Socio economics without question play a role in teen pregnancy rates.

According to the National Council of Welfare, The majority of those who rely on social assistance in Canada tend to be women, children and people with disabilities, it is noted that government policy focus on getting them into the paid workforce without adequate supports such as childcare, housing, and money for basic expenses, these policies are considered to be unrealistic and create much misery for the Canadians that are forced to live under these policies (Women, 2007). According to Census 2000, the average annual pre-tax income of women from all sources including government transfers was $22,885 or 62% that of what men receive. In Canada, female lone parent families have by far the lowest average total incomes among families. Although women continue to be among the poorest of the poor in Canada, they make up a disproportionate share of the population with low income 2.4 million women in 2001 compared to 1.9 million men (Work, 2004).

Societal Change contributes to an ever changing society in Canada. Two distinct adaptations that contribute to this developing society include Immigration and Equality. Immigration was almost non-existent in 1939, with Canada being a largely white settler dominion. As the years progressed, Immigration began to increase until Canada moved to become a multicultural, multiracial society at its current stage in 2017. By 2039, I would expect Canada to be even more multicultural, taking into account the Syrian Refugee crisis, many more refugees will be coming to Canada, thus influencing this idea of more racially diverse community. Equality between sexes was also something that contributed to this changing society in Canada. Women moved from being

measure after tax) which calculates tax from filler data, is Canada’s official poverty line and should be used as a reliable measure for child poverty in Canada. The second article, titled CO2.2 Child Poverty computes the possibility of children living in poverty via two methods. The first is through the child income poverty rate, which examines children from birth up until the age of 17. This method uses the proportion of the children and compares the equvialised post-tax-and-transfer income approximately fifty percent of the annual median. The second method uses rates of poverty in families that have children as well as working and non-working parents. The type of household studied here can be a single adult with minimum one child and two adults with minimum one child. The second method seems to be more beneficial in looking at child poverty as it analyzes and goes into more depth of a household and the types of families involved

Within this survey we will briefly examine the history surrounding child poverty while focusing on the 1989 House of Commons resolution to end poverty by 2000. We will examine the realities for Canadian children, the causes of child poverty, the effects on Canadian children and finally attempt to find some solutions (as well as look at existing ones) for 1.3 million children struggling in Canada (Canada Without Poverty).

Canada’s birth rates are below replacement levels and its population is aging, causing a significant drop in labour force growth over the long term. By 2030, nearly one out of every four Canadians will be 65 years or older. Moreover,

Falbo had found that only children tend to have higher self-esteem and perform better in school, as well as a higher number of them get a post-secondary level education than people with siblings (Fablo and Goudreau, 2013). Anne-Marie Ambert, from the department of sociology at York University, had mentioned in her book, Changing Families: Relationships in Context, that children from larger families do not do as well in school, on average as children from smaller families. Also, children from smaller families advance professionally and socially, than from larger families (Ambert, 362). Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Elvis Presley, Condoleezza Rice, and Tiger Woods are some good examples of adults who were brought up in small family sizes and were only children. Each of these adults eventually made their way to fame and were highly successful in their academics and careers. Family size in the United States as well as Canada, have been shrinking since the 1960’s and only child families have increased significantly over the past few decades (Goudreau, 2013). So why are Canadians having so few children? Firstly, there are many reasons for such to happen, but a major reason is that some people expect higher-quality children; investing more time in them than usual. Zosia Bielski, a reporter who attended Oxford University mentioned in her article, What is so wrong with having only one child?,

In a 2011 statistics Canada data, it confirms that there are approximately 36.8% of lone-mother families living in poverty with a fast and steady growth from past years. The conditions of single mothers’ in poverty do not prove hopeful with strict rules and regulations that work to remove them from social assistance hastily. Also, Tiessen (2016) confirmed that, “people receiving benefits from Ontario social assistance programs are living in a greater depth of poverty now than a generation ago and the poverty line continue to worsen, especially for single parents on Ontario Works whose poverty gap is 35% or $10,386” (p. 5). Even with these numbers, single mothers are frequently labeled as a drain on society and underprivileged due to their own

Poverty in families has always been a profound issue in the world over the past decades. This exists everywhere and is still a huge problem today. Poverty is defined as having inadequate money or goods for a life of moderate comfort (Shalo Tchombe et al., 2012). In Canada, 1 in 7 people lives in poverty. It is particularly children and youth under 18 that are vulnerable to the conditions of poverty. (“Just the Facts”, 2017).

In the 21st century, family size has been decreasing in many countries in the world. Whether smaller sized families have more advantages or not is a complicated issue and there are several opinions that to be examined. Arguments favourable of smaller sized families cite that parents who have fewer children have more time to spend on work or leisure, less financial burden to raise children and they can concentrate on the development of children. On the other hand, arguments against include mini type families may lead to the shortage of labour force, Economic shrinkage and children in this kind of family may under pressure from their parents.

In 2006, the percentage of lone-parent families were 16% for families in Canada, and 18% of children under age 15 who lives with their lone parents. In the Mid 2001 and 2006, the number of lone-parent families in Canada enlarged by 8%, and the numbers of male and female lone-parent families enlarged by 15% and 6% . Female lone-parent numbered 1.1 million and accounted for 80% of lone-parent families in Canada. Lone-parent families constantly experience higher rates of low income than other family types. in 2007, the rate of low

If an affordable national childcare policy was implemented though out Canada, it would benefit all and help raise families out of poverty. This would be achieved by giving parents especially women the opportunity to return to school, work or upgrade education in order to find better paying employment(Raphael, 2007). Children living poverty who have access to childcare may have reduced health problems because of the nutrition offered at the childcare establishment.