Child Poverty in Canada

Article: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1202030--canada-lags-on-fighting-child-poverty-report-finds.cp

            A current social policy issue in Canada is child poverty. This is a big issue in Canada, and not enough is being done by our government to address it. I believe that as a rich and developed country, child poverty should not be as high as it is, yet it is a very common issue here in Canada.

            The issue of child poverty in Canada is very serious and important because the rate of children who are living in poverty in Canada is increasing and its impact on children's futures and society can be devastating, (Forouzin, 2010). Children who are born into poverty are usually embedded into poverty and most of the time they live in poverty their whole lives. They live with inequality and stigma from being born into poverty, and they are less likely to receive a post-secondary education and a good career than children who are not born into poverty. I think that our government should be providing more funding to help children living in poverty.

            I think that our government uses more of the neo-conservative/neo-liberal approach on child welfare because the government is only providing basic security to parents with children under the age of 18. I think our government values inequality, and our social welfare society is still stigmatized. Social welfare is limited to the very needy in most services, and our benefits are minimal. I believe that Canada should develop more of a social democratic ideology on child poverty, and value equality instead of inequality, and they should provide equal chances for all. Children born into poverty are definitely not treated with equality or given an equal chance as children who are not born into poverty.
 

            The article posted above is titled ‘Canada lags on fighting child poverty, report finds,’ and it was published on an online Canadian newspaper called thestar.com. In this article the author discusses a report written by the United Nations Children’s Fund and a companion report written by UNICEF. These reports were written about child poverty in the world and in Canada, and conclude that our government hasn’t been paying enough attention to child poverty rates in the past few years. According to the report done by the United Nations Children's Fund, "with a child poverty rate of 13.3 per cent, Canada ranks 24th out of 35 industrialized nations, behind the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and most of northern Europe," (Monsebraaten, 2012). Both reports imply that Canada needs to lean towards the social democratic ideology on child poverty and increase funding to social welfare services needed to counteract child poverty. To address this issue, the United Nations Children's Fund "calls on the federal government to increase the Child Tax Benefit to at least $5,000 a year from the current $3,485 maximum and index it to inflation." They also advise that "parents with children under age 18 should also be allowed to retain more earned income from the Working Income Tax Benefit and Employment Insurance," (Monsebraaten, 2012). If our government doesn’t do anything soon, our child poverty rates are just going to keep increasing.

 

                I definitely agree with the article’s perspective of the way that Canada has been dealing with poverty, and I agree that the government needs to pay more attention and put more of an effort in to address the issue of child poverty. I think that Canada needs to adapt more of an institutional approach to social welfare, and see it as normal with no stigma. I also think that our federal and provincial governments need to increase funding to our social welfare systems, lower tuition rates for colleges and universities, and create more job opportunities. These are all things that could help address the issue of child poverty and the futures of children who were born into poverty. Our government needs to stop valuing inequality and start to care about the citizens and our right to life. I know that child poverty is a huge complex issue with no clear-cut resolution, but it will be a huge issue in Canada for a long time to come if our government doesn’t put more of an effort into addressing it.
 

References
 

Forouzin, S. (2010). Broken Promises: Child poverty in Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area. Page 1. Retrieved from:

http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.auc.ca/pqdtft/docview/816711166/13A14130FCF6A402CE8/2?accountid=46683

Monsebraaten, L. (2012). Canada lags on fighting child poverty, report finds. Thestar.com. Retrieved from:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1202030--canada-lags-on-fighting-child-poverty-report-finds.

-Lyndsay