Abstract: Government has recently been paying relatively little attention to the income and time deficits that face many Canadian families and has instead focused primarily upon reducing the fiscal deficit. This article discusses the range of policies and programs that could be introduced to cope with families' income and time deficits. They would represent a real investment in the well-being of Canada's children and families.Social reform used to mean improving social programs. Today, social reform in Canada has taken on a second, not necessarily complimentary meaning--cutting social programs to reduce the deficit. Unfortunately, social reform has not been directed toward reducing the deficits that face many Canadian families: lack of income and lack of time to devote to their children's emotional development. Unless we confront these deficits, it will be almost impossible to balance the most important bottom line--the well-being of Canadian children and families.This article explores the key income and time deficits facing Canadian families, describes briefly the current policy responses to these problems, and puts forward several proposals to help reduce these deficits and to move toward increased investment in the welfare of Canadian children.The Income DeficitChild povertyIn November 1989, the House of Commons unanimously passed a resolution to seek to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000 [Standing Committee 1993: 1]. Since that announcement, child poverty actually has grown; close to half a million children have been added to the ranks of the poor between 1989 and 1993. As of 1493, 1.45 million children age 18 or under lived in poor families: one child in five was poor. The picture for children in single-parent families is even more bleak; in 1993, 64.5% of the children being reared by single mothers were poor Statistics Canada 1994c: 21].The trend in child poverty rates since 1980 is not promising. Although the number and percentage of poor children rise and fall with the conditions of the economy, overall progress has not been made. The child poverty rate (i.e., the percentage of all children who are poor) has ranged between 15% and 21%, as illustrated in figure 1. (Figure 1 omitted) The number of poor children has exceeded one million in all but one year.Children from poor families are much more likely than children from nonpoor families to face a range of risks, including death in the first year of life; accidents and physical and intellectual disabilities; grade failure; school dropout; and inadequate opportunities for recreational, skill, and cultural development [Barnhorst & Johnson 1990: 100, 105]. Each stage of child development is impaired by poverty. The risks are especially high for Aboriginal children; close to 51% are poor--whether they live on or off reserve [Statistics Canada 1993a: 9].Low income all too often results in poor quality diets for pregnant women. Inadequate nutrition, in turn, may result in low birth weight for infants, which increases their risk for illness, poor development, and infant death [Ryerse 1990: 21-25]. The infant mortality rate of low-income households is almost double that of well-off families; infants who do survive have a lower life expectancy than their well-off peers [Standing Senate Committee 1991: 34]. Children from poor families experience a greater incidence of chronic health problems including bronchitis, asthma, digestive disorders, anemia, sight disorders, mental disorders, diabetes, and heart disease.Children suffering from poor health do not perform as well as healthy children at school. Poor children have school dropout rates which are 2.2 times higher than those of the nonpoor, as well as poor school performance, more behaviour-related problems, lower attention span, increased truancy, poor attendance, erratic behaviour, hyperactivity, aggression, delayed cognitive development, lower achievement and low self-esteem [Standing Committee 1991: 18]. …
Publication Year: 1995
Publication Date: 1995-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
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