Poverty in Canada
Poverty in Canada
Sociology 1000: Writing Assignment
11/26/2012
Cassandra Vincent
How can there be so many people in poverty? It is all around us even though Canada has made the G20 Richest Nations; they still have one of the highest poverty rates for in the industrialized world. Through reading many articles such as Ann Duffy and Nancy Mandell’s “Poverty in Canada”, others that I have found online, and my own personal experience I have learned the numerous reasons why so many people in a well industrialized nation such as Canada are struggling with poverty.
WORD JOURNAL Duffy and Mandell portray many themes around poverty in their article “poverty in Canada”, but there is one word that really symbolizes the main theme, and that is inequality. Inequality: the position of being unequal; lack of equality. Most of the impoverishment in Canada comes from the minority groups of the nation; unattached women over 65, single-headed females, disabled people, minimum wage workers, people receiving social assistance/EI benefits, and new immigrants or aboriginal Canadians. These minority groups are being targeted with low-waged jobs which lead them to not having enough to provide the basic necessities. Targeted with inequality the most are women because they fall into each category of those hit with poverty. “Poverty in Canada” really focuses on the feminization of poverty in Canada. While the reasons behind women’s impoverishment are complex they have much to do with traditional gender ideologies, inequalities in the labour force, and flaws in our family law and responses to marriage breakdown (Duffy & Mandell, 2004, p.90). Women are expected to stay home doing household duties and raising children while the men are out making the money. So when women enter the workforce they are underpaid and are given less hours showing a prime example that women are not treated equally. Although women fall into every category and have the biggest poverty rate there are
Sociology 1000: Writing Assignment
11/26/2012
Cassandra Vincent
How can there be so many people in poverty? It is all around us even though Canada has made the G20 Richest Nations; they still have one of the highest poverty rates for in the industrialized world. Through reading many articles such as Ann Duffy and Nancy Mandell’s “Poverty in Canada”, others that I have found online, and my own personal experience I have learned the numerous reasons why so many people in a well industrialized nation such as Canada are struggling with poverty.
WORD JOURNAL Duffy and Mandell portray many themes around poverty in their article “poverty in Canada”, but there is one word that really symbolizes the main theme, and that is inequality. Inequality: the position of being unequal; lack of equality. Most of the impoverishment in Canada comes from the minority groups of the nation; unattached women over 65, single-headed females, disabled people, minimum wage workers, people receiving social assistance/EI benefits, and new immigrants or aboriginal Canadians. These minority groups are being targeted with low-waged jobs which lead them to not having enough to provide the basic necessities. Targeted with inequality the most are women because they fall into each category of those hit with poverty. “Poverty in Canada” really focuses on the feminization of poverty in Canada. While the reasons behind women’s impoverishment are complex they have much to do with traditional gender ideologies, inequalities in the labour force, and flaws in our family law and responses to marriage breakdown (Duffy & Mandell, 2004, p.90). Women are expected to stay home doing household duties and raising children while the men are out making the money. So when women enter the workforce they are underpaid and are given less hours showing a prime example that women are not treated equally. Although women fall into every category and have the biggest poverty rate there are
Bibliography: Monsebraaten, L. (2012). Canada lags on fighting child poverty, report finds. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1202030--canada-lags-on-fighting-child-poverty-report-finds Grant, T. (2012). The changing face of poverty in Canada. The Globe And Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Duffy, A., & Mandell, N. (2004). Poverty in Canada. R. J. Brym (ed.) Society in Question: Sociological Reading for the 21st Cantury. 4th Edition. (pp. 87-102). Toronto: Nelson