Child Poverty In Canada Essay

Child poverty is not only a major concern in Third World nations but also within our own nation of Canada. Poor children have fewer resources, choices, and opportunities, which can result in despair or even isolation from the greater society (Hughes 1995: 783). Though this is a major issue within Canada, sociology can help individuals to think critically about child poverty by understanding how family dynamics are an influencing force, as well as the lasting consequences that child poverty can have on an individual. It is then by understanding these forces, and how society as a whole influences child poverty, that child poverty can be solved through having a united definition, a plan with a clearly outlined allocation of resources, as well

as more effective screening processes.
The immediate image that comes to mind when thinking of child poverty is sickly, thin kids in third world countries, such as Africa.

However, in contrast to the prevalent stereotypes, child poverty is a major problem within many countries, including Canada. Child poverty rates in Canada are consistently higher than other wealthy nations in the world (Albanese 2010:15). In 2015 there were 4.8 million Canadians living in low-income households, and 1.2 million of those individuals were children, meaning that one out of four people living in poverty were children under the age of eighteen (Statistics Canada 2017). Multiple factors contribute the child poverty situation within Canada, with the largest influencing factors being family and race. Children in families lead by single mothers are the most economically vulnerable to poverty, with 47 percent of these families living in poverty (Albanese 2010:20). Immigrant and First Nation children have the highest risk of being exposed to poverty in Canada. 49 percent of children from immigrant families and 40 percent of First Nation children living off of reserves live in poverty (Albanese 2010:20). However, child poverty in Canada has been greatly improved since the mid-1990s; this improvement is primarily because of the introduction of government-run family-related programs. These programs include the Canadian child tax benefit, which is a tax-free monthly payment to families with children under the age of 18 (Statistics Canada

2017). However, child poverty is far from being eliminated from Canadian society as it still affects many children today, causing them to have limited and restricted lives.
Understanding the influences of the family dynamic can help an individual gain a better understanding of child poverty. Children from families that are poor can get caught in the poverty cycle that lasts from generation to generation, creating a legacy of people trapped within the lower levels of social stratification. A parent’s ability to gain educational opportunities will impact the ability of their children to also gain a good education. Ethnicity plays a role in likeliness of whether or not children will grow up in poverty. In earlier years “child poverty rates were highest for children who are non-Hispanic Black or African American (38%), American Indian (36%), or Hispanic or Latino (32%), while rates were lowest for children who are non-Hispanic White (13%) or Asian and Pacific Islander (13%)”  (McCarty 2016, 625). Children from minority groups are more likely than those who are Canadian born to face the risk of child poverty. Marital functions within the family also have an influence on whether or not children will have to face poverty. Families with unmarried parents or a single parent, especially those with a single mother, are more likely to face poverty. Another struggle families facing poverty endure is time poverty. While trying to gain more income for the family they do not always have time to spend with their children. A study “found high incidence of time deficit among the employed single parents with children. We have not addressed the gender issue here since there are very few single fathers and additionally single fathers must meet most of the same challenges that single mothers face” (Harvey and Mukhopadhyay 2006, 75). Family dynamics are a major influence of child poverty, as the socioeconomic category that an individual is born into is often where an individual will remain, as well as it influences the opportunities given to children.
Children who live in poverty are already at a huge disadvantage even before entering the school system. Poverty within a family can lead to the malnutrition and decreased health of children, this can affect the child’s cognitive development leading to one doing poorly in school and may result in children dropping out before graduating (Albanese 2010:36). Early child care is another factor that limits poor children from succeeding in school. High-quality early childhood care promotes early learning and development in children, providing them with a good head start in their educational careers, however, these services are not covered fully by the Canadian government, preventing children in poverty from receiving this head start like other non-impoverished children (Friendly and Rothman 1995:505). Once and if a child in poverty does graduate from high school, the means of going to a post-secondary institution is limited. In modern societies acquiring an educational title is by the means of inheriting a certain social position from their parents (Grob 2003:200). For a child to receive a post-secondary diploma and advancing their parents’ social position is not impossible but very hard as, the financial or transportation means are not available to them easily and within their fiances. As Jennifer Robson says the most threatening result of poverty is the risk of impoverished children growing up to be poor (Albanese 2010:38).
Even though child poverty has many lasting impacts and is a major social problem within Canadian society today, there are measures that can be taken to lower child poverty and its effects.

One of the most important things is to have a unified definition of what poverty is and national plan working towards the removal of child poverty, for if there is more than one definition of poverty it is hard to measure the progress of a nation (Sharma and Ford-Jones 2015). Another major influencing factor is economics. In 2005 a UNICEF study found out that there is a direct correlation between high government spending on social benefits and lower child poverty rates, as exemplified by the Nordic countries (UNICEF 2005). However, the study also found out that government spending has more to do with policies and the allocations of funds, believing that many countries have the possibility of getting child poverty below 10% without a major increase in spending (UNICEF 2005). Therefore, by increasing spending in meaningful, clearly defined ways the most amount of money can be spent in effective ways. One of the final key ideas to reduce child poverty is to be proactive in the screening process. Much of the effort that goes towards reducing poverty is ineffective because it comes to late in the child’s life, therefore it is important to catch it early enough to deal with it effectively and have less of a negative impact on the child (Sharma and Ford-Jones 2015). To practically apply this

concept, systems such as screening within pediatric clinics or early home visiting programs for expectant mothers can catch poverty before it has a chance to negatively impact the child’s life (Sharma and Ford-Jones 2015).
In conclusion, one needs to gain an understanding the family dynamics of poverty as an influencing force, as well as the lasting consequences that child poverty can have on an individual. After gaining knowledge of these factors and how society impacts child poverty, one can then understand how child poverty can be solved within a sociological perspective. Child poverty is a major problem within Canada that has many different factors, which can all be solved.