Child Poverty In Canada

1. Child Poverty In Canada Sanaz Farshchian

2. Outline • You Tube Video • Poverty Quiz • Child Poverty Statistics • Case Study: 2 sisters lived in poverty in Kitimat, B.C. In 1994. 14 years later they are interviewed again. • How we define • How Poverty Affects Children • The Idea of the “Western Child” • Discussion questions

3. Video & Quiz • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlmwuwhCsgM • http://www.campaign2000.ca/quiz2/index.html

4. Child Poverty Statistics • Canada • 1 in 8 children- 788,000 - live in poverty when income is measured after income taxes. Before income taxes, 1 in 6 or 1.13 million children live in poverty. • Top 4 provinces suffering from child poverty is: British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. (campaign 2000) • UNICEF ranks Canada 17th worst out of 23 industrialized nations in terms of child poverty levels.

5. Poverty Across Canada

6. Case Study • Children of Poverty: 14 years later • In the Vancouver Sun in 1994 a 12 page article was done on “Children of Poverty”. • Ayla Thompson and her sister Jasmine were featured in the article with their now deceased mother. • They both grew up in extreme poverty and endured 27 different foster homes • Their mother was a struggling addict. • 14 years later they were interviewed again; Jasmine is still in foster care and Ayla is married to Sean Thompson, 27; they have a 2 year old daughter and another baby on the way. • Ayla and Jasmine say that they are breaking the cycle and will not allow their children to live in poverty. • But not all children are as lucky as Ayla and Jasmine, their lives do not straighten out.

7. Defining Poverty in Canada • The Canadian government provides three primary measures of low income in Canada, none of which are officially endorsed as poverty lines • Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) • Is defined as a family which spends more than 55% of its income on food, clothing and shelter Statistics Canada

8. Defining Poverty in Canada • The Low Income Measure (LIM) • Which is strictly relative measures of low income, set at 50% of adjusted median family income. • The Market Basket Measure (MBM) • Addresses head-on for how much a family requires to meet basic needs Statistics Canada

9. How Poverty Affects Children Poverty brings with it many costs that have a long term influence on children: • Poor nutrition, hunger • Family stress, parental depression, reduced supports and family conflict • Fewer resources for learning, lower quality child care, financial barriers for activities • Crowded and dilapidated housing problems, homelessness, problem neighbourhoods, frequent moves, lack of safe places to play The Urban Poverty Consortium of Waterloo Region

10. The Western Child • We are taught in Canada about the third world and how children are suffering from poverty and labour. • A notion is put into our minds about the Western, first world child. • Jefferess article “Neither Seen Nor Heard: The Idea of the “Child” as Impediment to the Rights of Children; explains this idea. • Books like Iqbal are written about the other worlds, but where are the books about the children who are suffering right here in Canada

11. The Western Child • A boy named Craig Kielburger was inspired by Iqbal and organised “Free the Children”. He travels around the world visiting children and speaking out in defence of children's rights. • Why are they not organizing something in Canada to teach Canadian children about their rights. • Children who are suffering from poverty are not having their rights met. • The 3 P’s (protection, Provision and Participation); they are not being met.

12. Discussion Questions • How is the Idea of the western child related to the idea of the universal child? • Why are children suffering from poverty in such a rich country? Is it related to the children being kept powerless?