Poverty And Development Of Children In Canada: An Overview

The Impact of Postal Code on Child Development in Canada

Poverty and lack of employment have emerged as the cause for retardation of the health and development of a big section of Canadians. These factors are generally having a toll on the development needs of the Children in Canada. The area specific lag in prosperity and financial accomplishment of the Canadians is a major reason behind the dearth in the development of the Children.

This essay aims at exploring what the major causative agents owing to which the development of a massive section of children in Canada have been stalled. The difference in the standard of economy and upbringing between the quintiles are also exhibited here. Lastly, the major issue that single mothers face in the country and how their situation is challenging for the development of children have also been depicted here.

Discussion

            The success and sustenance chances of the people in Canada are highly dependent on the postal codes they are detained in to. A depiction from the article of Verma (2015), can be highlighted to substantiate the biases that people experience based on the postal code they are designated in to. The article communicates a question that what would be the first thought of a person who spectates a young pregnant lady walking down Barton Street in Hamilton, Canada? The obvious perception would be that the child not yet born have already lost the lottery called life and so it seems that it was predetermined by the postal code where he or she has descended.

            It is an evident statistics that a mother in that area stands 85% chance of being a single mother and most probably in such a status she is deemed to be counted among the 20% of the least income generators in the country (Rothwell & Robson, 2018). She has the most lenient chance to afford parental care for the first trimester pregnancy for herself. As an obvious outcome her baby would be born underweight and the baby’s survival would rest up on intensive neonatal care.

The dramatic death rate also exhibits how life expectancy is biased, based up on the postal code of residence of the person. A citizen of the depressed north end of the Hamilton locality is susceptible to enjoy a life expectancy of 65.5 years at the most (Sit & Stermac, 2017). On the contrary, if a person walks down only few kilometres to Rice Avenue, the life expectancy would be exaggerated to 86 years approximately.

            According to the analysis of Hillman, Souveny and Burton (2018), the income gradient of the people in these areas determined as Code Red (postal codes with the most poor citizens) is dramatically low. In spite of the presence of all modern amenities for life sustenance, people have a very low rate of disposable income and this is why the babies born here are refrained from the prospect of a bright future or a healthy lifestyle or even good health. The poor value of the social determinants of health in these code red areas are caused by factors like as  low income, poor or no housing, very low rate of employment, paucity of early childhood development and lastly race based biasness in terms of political and social preference.

The State of Union Movement in Canada

Health Determining factors for the babies born in the Code Red areas of Canada

            Sociological researches in income inequality confirms that the income gap and the wealth difference between rich and poor in Canada are on an increasing note. The statistics of 2012 shows that the families in the upper quintiles of the country earned 10 times more income than the families of the lowest quintiles. The gap in the median income is also quite relevant to this disproportion. In constant Dollars the average annual median income of the uppermost quintiles have risen from $191,600 to $283,000 (Okkola & Brunelle, 2018). On the contrary, the same development for the people of the lowest quintile have been $28400 from $28000, with a hike of only $4000. The scenario of average per quintile income of the Canadians would make the scenario clear.

Income Group	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	1996	2001	2005
Bottom 20% (poorest)	4.4%	4.2%	3.6%	4.6%	4.5%	4.2%	4.1%	4.1%
Second 20%	11.2%	11.9%	10.6%	11%	10%	9.6%	9.7%	9.6%
Middle 20%	18.3%	18.3%	17.6%	17.7%	16.4%	16%	15.6%	15.6%
Fourth 20%	23.3%	24.5%	24.9%	25.1%	24.7%	24.6%	23.7%	23.9%
Top 20% (richest)	42.8%	41.1%	43.3%	41.6%	44.4%	45.6%	46.9%	46.9%

Income parity based on the quintile differences in Canada

            Researchers have exhibited that the children who grow up under low income show diminished income in terms of learning. The cognitive development, achievement rate and the participation rate in extracurricular activities is succumbing. The financial turbulence in the home environment of the people are elements that disturb the mental stability of the learners under 5 years of age. As, Kim et al. (2018), states, they are more aware of the condition at home nowadays and the positive parental interaction is the primary reason behind this.

The difference in standards at the educational settings that they experience make them mindful and more cautious of the economic status that they belong to. A striking evidence shows that the students who come from the lowest income range families show a growth mind-set where they are most concerned about the economic status they are sharing and also shows the liability of improving the condition in the future. The scenario in the case of the students who pertain to the economically stable families is different. They show the trend of focusing on their career only and as an outcome they are emphatically better learners than the above category.

            In terms of upbringing of the children in Canada, another issue is the emergence of a high rate of single parenthood. Again, as per the discussions of Esmaeilzadeh, Ahmad & Naveed (2018), single parents are mostly single mothers in Canada. A study conducted in the town of Vancouver shows that 98% of the single parents are single mothers. Now, there is a strong point for validation and relating this occurrence in Canada. The single mothers in Canada find it very hard to seek social establishments.

There are multi-various barriers to entering in to the work force in the country for the single mothers. Most often the single mothers are not able to find affordable childcare homes where they can leave their children. Often, single mothers in high contrast to single fathers are countered with the issue of social isolation. Owing to these issues the income level of the single mothers in Canada is rather deplorable.

They are not able to earn a consolidated earnings and as an outcome of which there is a high chance that their children would be intimidated from certain aspects. It could be that they are victims of malnutrition and hence physically and mentally retarded or they are not able to accomplish basic education and as an outcome of which they are not able to ensure a sustainable and risk free future for them.

Conclusion

            Poverty in Canada has emerged as a serious social issue and the children are having to face the direct consequences of these as discussed in this essay. There is biased economy in Canada because of which the Code Red areas are emerging as an outcome. Other than that family poverty is also having a strong mental impact on the children and the metal growth as well as educational career is getting affected. In fact, in terms of upbringing, the single mother are also faced with acute crisis. In this situation, growth and accomplishment of a massive section of Canadians seems to be at stake.

Reference List

Davidai, S., & Gilovich, T. (2018). How should we think about Americans’ beliefs about economic mobility?. Judgment and Decision Making, 13(3), 297.

Esmaeilzadeh, R., Ahmad, N., & Naveed, A. (2018). Do Immigrants Catch?up with the Natives in Terms of Earnings? Evidence from Individual Level Data of Canada. International Migration.

Hillman, M., Souveny, D., & Burton, L. (2018). Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance Poverty Awareness Survey Executive Summary April 2018.

Okkola, S., & Brunelle, C. (2018). Has the oil boom generated new problems of housing affordability in resource-driven agglomerations in Canada? A case study of St. John’s, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, and Fort McMurray, 1991–2011. Urban Geography, 39(2), 299-327.

Rothwell, D., & Robson, J. (2018). The prevalence and composition of asset poverty in Canada: 1999, 2005, and 2012. International Journal of Social Welfare, 27(1), 17-27.

Sit, V., & Stermac, L. (2017). Improving Formal Support After Sexual Assault: Recommendations From Survivors Living in Poverty in Canada. Journal of interpersonal violence, 0886260517744761.

Verma, R. B. (2015). Poverty in Canada. Canadian Studies in Population, 42(1-2), 153-156.

Kim, T. H., Connolly, J. A., Rotondi, M., & Tamim, H. (2018). Investigating Pathways to Behavioural Problems in Children of Teenage, Middle Age, and Advanced Age Mothers in Canada. Child Indicators Research, 11(5), 1631-1647.