It has been around two decades since the House of Commons unanimous resolution to end child in poverty by the year 2000, It is now 2012 and children in poverty still exist so how have we failed to make sure child poverty was not eliminated.
The UN has put out a report that finds Canada Canada
As globalization and neoliberalism have risen to the forefront of international politics in the last several decades, economic restructuring of governmental policies have been enacted in order to conform with the changing global context (Bashevkin 1994). The result from such restructuring has exacerbated poverty in already disadvantaged groups and further embattled those whom the policies initially intended to assist. Exploring the negative influence of neoliberalism on poverty in Canada, specifically its impact on women in the lower socioeconomic sectors; the relationship between the government and women; and the importance of addressing women‟s issues in the context of welfare as they care for childern and if they are poor so are there childern.
As globalization and neoliberalism have risen to the forefront of international politics in the last several decades, economic restructuring of governmental policies have been enacted in order to conform with the changing global context (Bashevkin 1994). The result from such restructuring has exacerbated poverty in already disadvantaged groups and further embattled those whom the policies initially intended to assist. Exploring the negative influence of neoliberalism on poverty in Canada, specifically its impact on women in the lower socioeconomic sectors; the relationship between the government and women; and the importance of addressing women‟s issues in the context of welfare as they care for childern and if they are poor so are there childern.
For years we knew that there was a need to take this seriously. We don’t take or embrace the strategies to reduce the children living in poverty, we need to help improve the situation it has been more than 20 year since the federal government vowed to end child poverty. We need to hold the government accountable for what they promised. It is also the responsibility of us to become aware of these promises for and to children to live without poverty.
Jen M
Laurie, N. (2008). The Cost of Poverty: An Analysis of the Economic Cost of Poverty in Ontario Ontario
StatisticsCanada
Statistics
www.unicef.ca/en/disover/article/unicef-reportcard-10
The Lyceum, Vol. 1, No. 1 (September 2011), pp.
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&spell=1&q=neoliberalism+in+poverty&sa=X&ei=D-qiUI27OOGA2gW28YDADA&ved=0CBwQBSgA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=a3c5d24f624717fa&bpcl=38093640&biw=1255&bih=626
Neoliberalism and Its Effect On Canadian Women In Poverty
Olivia Bako The Lyceum, Vol. 1, No. 1 (September 2011), pp.
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&spell=1&q=neoliberalism+in+poverty&sa=X&ei=D-qiUI27OOGA2gW28YDADA&ved=0CBwQBSgA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=a3c5d24f624717fa&bpcl=38093640&biw=1255&bih=626
Hudson, C. A., & Graefe, P. (2012). The Toronto Origins of Ontario’s 2008 Poverty Reduction Strategy: Mobilizing Multiple Channels of Influence for Progressive Social Policy Change. Canadian Review of Social Policy/Revue canadienne de politique sociale, (65-66).
Phillips, S. D. (2012). Dual restructuring: civil society and the welfare state in Canada, 1985-2005. British Journal of Canadian Studies, 25(2), 161-180.
I completely agree with you Jen, not only as a parent but also as someone who has lived as a child in poverty. It's not the fault of the parent when they are unable to afford the high priced food in the grocery store. If we want a certain quality of life for all citizens than we not only have to consider the cost of the basic needs, but how we could go about educating the people to produce their own basic needs, like farming, finding new methods of cleaning water, and reusing materials to build houses for those who currently are without. Ancient traditions once were able to have sustainable communities with thousands of people living in any one given area, why are we forgetting the basic needs and placing money and ownership over our children? .... Doesn't make sense at all! I stayed home on social assistance for 10 years raising my children, and when they were able to all go into the education system, I joined the system as well. I believe that education and sustaining our basic needs should be first on the long list of priorities held by any type of governance on people, because without a healthy supporting community for the people, they become essentially cruel slave owners.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth M.
I believe that the government put this in place, it failed, and now they have to revaluate and come up with a new plan to stop child poverty because their previous plan obviously didn’t work. I agree with increasing child benefits and child tax benefits because, no it won’t completely solve the problem but it will be a step in the right direction. I also agree with the public becoming more aware, because the public is not fully aware of everything that these children go through, and neither am I. I believe that by us becoming aware of what is going on, and what the governments plan is that we can insure that something gets done to fix this issue that should have been fixed 12 years ago.
ReplyDelete-Kahli (Physcial Disabilities Group)
This is very interesting, as I was not aware that Canada was doing so poorly in terms of child poverty. This problem is rather baffling to me, and I am a little confused as to how it is still such a major problem. I do not think there is anyone who thinks that child poverty is acceptable, and yet it is still such a seemingly difficult problem to solve. I can recognize that the House of Commons would want to take some time to make the right decisions and to go about eradicating poverty in the best possible way. But twelve years since the time they promised it would be gone? That just makes is seem like it is not a priority anymore.
ReplyDeleteIf what Kahli says is correct, it would make a little more sense. Perhaps the government is simply trying to make a better solution to this horrendous injustice. Also, Jen made an excellent point. Meeting basic needs should be at the top of the list of priorities, especially for these very vulnerable members of our society: children. Let's hope we see some significant change soon.
-Selina
Dear Jen,
ReplyDeleteI like how you presented this complicated issue in a simple and understandable way. I also like how you brought your own voice into the post. In my opinion, I think that you shared your beliefs and thoughts about the issue very well.
Moreover, I totally agree with you. I think that the people
should step up and do something about it with the help of the government. I think as citizens we all need to educate ourselves better and become more aware of the issue of poverty because it is not just a national issue , but also global. There are no guarantees of what the future hold. I mean just because some of us are not experiencing poverty in a direct way, it does not mean that they are not facing it or will not be facing it in the future.
I truly hope that we will get the chance to create the change ourselves. We can start as a small group, volunteering or at least doing something about it. Is there anybody who is interested? Thank you Jen for this informative post.
-Farah
Jen,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100 percent, this is a shame that things have gotten this bad in our home Country and i believe that with the good intentions of raising Child Tax Benefit and such that its not truely the answer. ?This is because as things rise as does the cost of food, shelter and heating, causing that extra money from child tax to goto those things and the children are still living in poverty. i think the government needs to cap rental prices, or tax moneys exceedinga certain amount based on the rental charges the landlords enforce. i also think we need to regulate hydro and gas companies charges as this is crazy how much they can charge and the things they can charge for Debt reduction fee's that was incured by the company and we pay it when we did not incure the debt!! i dont see the governement offering to pay off my substancial debt!! I truely believe thee is not enough regulations in place to ensure that canadians can thrive and live a life free of poverty and struggle from day to day. Thank you for the great research.
Angela "Northern and Rural group"
I have done a bit of research as well in Child poverty, I feel it is a shame that certain children fall victim to this, yes victims because these problems are out of their control. Social democrats are all about equality and giving people are fair chance at success in life. Perhaps it is time that the social democrats to charge of our country and help those in need. It is hard enough to be successful as a child without the addition worries of living in poverty. How do we expect our youth to succeed when they do not have the essentials in life? We must give equal opportunity for children to succeed, they are our future, and they are the ones that will take of us when we are elderly. I myself would like to see more support in place for our future generation of leaders, and doctors and scientist, and so on. Not to mention the ridicule that those in poverty face every day by other peers because they do not have things that others have. Equal opportunity to a good lifestyle, a bright future, this is what Canada needs to step up and does.
ReplyDeleteChristine-Timmins
I love that you chose to look at canada's "dirty little secret" of child poverty in our own back yard. I live in low income housing as a student and get to see, first hand, the effects of child poverty and the lack of support available and willing to change the situation. It is a serious issue, which I'm sad to say, as our government continues to make a slide to more conservative ideologies, the issue will become much bigger, and much more widespread if we don't start standing up for the poor in our own back yards. we spend so much effort ion helping children from other countries (unicef, Christmas shoe boxes) but seem to forget about our neighbors.
ReplyDelete-Larissa
When the government vows to pass legislature through the House of Commons, then how is it not acted on? There have been far too many situations where the Canadian government has made promises but has failed to fulfil them. Thus, the Canadian government still continues to issue false promises year after year, regarding situation after situation whereas the Canadian populace are wronged in the end. I believe it is certain that the government has everything to do with child poverty, as they are the only ones that fully have the money and the power to stop it all at once.
ReplyDeleteWith this, the Canadian government needs to be fully aware that they could be responsible for the lives of our poor children. With government action children would not have to grow up in poor homes where there are often severe issues such as substance abuse, hunger and the lack of proper shelter. The Canadian government has the power to issue more social welfare programs and child benefit programs to ensure the safety and positive growth of our children. After all, these children will be the ones who eventually replace us as the next generation. Our country must survive, and by doing this we must take care of our people.
- Kara
I really like this post because this issue strongly aggravates me. Children are the building blocks in life and if children are dealing with poverty and can’t focus on school, what future do they have? This is such a horrendous cycle, and thanks to the government for not keeping its promise, Canadians are still dealing with this issue. No child should live their life dealing with adult issues, not knowing when their next meal is, not being properly clothed, not being able to be bathed daily, and not knowing they will have a guaranteed roof over their shoulders. Children have such delicate minds and we need to end this problem, or at least start by helping it. Donating any clothing, money or food will help.
ReplyDeleteI used to work at the YMCA and I saw firsthand true poverty in children. Some would wear the same clothes for a whole week straight, not have enough food in their lunches, and could not focus on learning. Not to mention they were depressed and along with that would come behavioral issues. Some children would be so bullied because of their poverty level; they would act out and couldn’t control themselves, giving them a bad label. Our government needs to step it up, and help out our children.
-Meri-Beth *
I definitely like how worded this post. It makes so frustrated seeing children live in poverty, especially after we watched that video in class. In elementary school, I used to volunteer and help out in the kindergarten classroom at recess because I loved to help the kids. Too often I would see one or two kids that wouldn't have enough for a lunch, and so they would take food from the breakfast program box instead. Although our government isn't getting rid of child poverty directly, it's good to know that programs such as these exist to aid children who don't have enough to eat.
ReplyDelete-Spencer (poverty group)
I enjoyed reading this post, simply put and delivered the point successfully. I 100% agree we need to be holding the government accountable and advocating for more services. I think that this is one of the issues that goes under the radar. When individuals think child poverty, they think third world countries. Yes, it is great that there are relief efforts and strategies to help relieve poverty in developing countries, but what about the children and youth who are suffering from poverty within our own country?
ReplyDelete-Alexandra
I think you raise a very important issue in your post. What are the priorities of government spending? So many people live in poverty I think it is time to put some more money into making our future prosperous. If the governments spends all the money on roads and such things how are our children supposed to get ahead? How will the society we know now be different for them? Is that what we want?
ReplyDeleteThe idea that so many children do without and then on top of that have to deal with bullying at school is upsetting. I think children need to be nurtured and cared for in order to become succesful contributing adults. If the governments want the economy to withstand that future, maybe its time they start investing more time in educating our children.
Kristin*
This post obviously brought forth a lot of important discussions because all of us can see how important this issue is. Children are the future of our "beloved economy" so why aren't we doing more to guide these children towards health and becoming an active member of society. Children living in poverty do not have equal rights never mind equal opportunity. Getting up in the morning and having enough food in the house to have a healthy breakfast should be an equal right for everyone. Having a child and youth worker background, I have seen first hand how child poverty can affect a child at school. These kids are not being giving the opportunity to succeed, they are being set up for failure. Child poverty is everyone's issue, why aren't we doing more to invest in our children, our future.
ReplyDeleteAngele
The government really does need to take more action in the issue of child poverty. Obviously whatever they are doing now isn't working. Children are the future of our country, and if they don't properly develop, how can we expect to have our country further develop? This blog has really brought to my attention what Canada is doing in terms of child poverty, which is obviously not much. I agree with you Jen, this was a great article.
ReplyDelete-Helen
Child poverty is a huge issue in society today and one that is not being seen as having a strong enough need for a lot of attention compared to other issues.I think the Government should most defiantly be focusing a lot of attention on this issue since the children today are the future of society. If more and more children get into poverty and are not able to rise above it, it will affect them as young and older adults. I think it will benefit the Government in the future to help the children living in poverty today. This way they can create a good and well lifestyle for themselves when they are young resulting in giving back to society by getting a good education and contributing to the workforce as they become adults.
ReplyDeleteLindsay
In looking at everyones comments, and the research that some did further to see what it is and how it is out there i truely think this is a great assignment. Not only are we interacting as a class about majour topics in our community and others we are learning so much more than we could just sitting in a classroom. I feel that child poverty is definately canada's dirty little secret because you see and hear so much about poverty around the world; there is such a focus on it like it couldnt be happening here. When in reality it is, and its just as bad as everywhere else or worse because I have seen studies of how here in Canada we throw away so much food, enough that we coulod most likely feed all the starving people right here in Canada. I definately feel ashamed that life is like this in a country that so many want to be in because it is seen as a better place than most. When its actually not seen for all the horrible things that truely take place here as a result of greed, and power and just plain old "Damn IGNORANCE"
ReplyDeleteThanks
Angela
Thank you for the very informative blog post. You always hear about poverty in the third world countries but not much is said about poverty in our own country. In school I have learned about poverty in Canada but I have never seen it so I never really believed it. The more I am reading these posts and comments the more real it is becoming. I am happy that the government and UN are trying to stop it but obviously it is still happening. I think as a part of society we need to help with this issue too. Donating to food banks more and donating to charities more might be some ways we can help this cause.
ReplyDeleteAlexandra