Childhood Poverty In Canada: Analysis Of A News Article

Discuss about the Childhood Poverty in Canada. 

The purpose of this assignment is to present and analyze the role of media presentations to shape public’s perception about the social problems. One of the primary methods of getting information about social and political issues from the news media. There are several forms of news media, which acts as the source of information or from where the information can be gathered, for instance, newspapers, online news, reputable magazine and the newspaper blogs. Here, in this assignment, the focus is presenting and analyzing a social issue in Canadian society, presented via a media resource. In this assignment, one of the major social issues in Canadian society, “childhood poverty” has been selected and a newspaper article “One in five Canadian children lives in poverty” published in “news1130”, which is a renowned Canadian newspaper media (Bailey, 2015).

In the current article, the author Lloyd and Bailey discussed about the childhood poverty and its impact upon the Canadian children. The author highlighted that approximately 1.3 million children in Canada live in poverty, though it has been more than 25 years after the Canadian federal politicians unanimously vowed to end child poverty in Canada. Here, the general child population in Canada is involved in the condition. The national report card on child and family poverty pointed out that one in every five children in Canada lives below the poverty line. It has been reported in the newspaper article that the poverty rates are worse among the indigenous children, who are from racialized, immigrant or disabled family compared to the children living in the urban region, who are unaffected by the racial or migration issues (Bailey, 2015). According to the poverty report card, the rate of child poverty in Canada has been enhanced to 19 % in 2013 from 15.8% in 1989. Wit PhD (2007) claimed that the child poverty rate has been doubled, around 40 % for the indigenous children. The paper also claimed that more than one third of children in Canada are living in a household, where one family member has full-time and year-round employment. It has also been revealed from the media presentations or newspaper articles regarding the childhood poverty that one in seven Canadians, who are using homeless shelters, are children. Moreover, living in this kind of environment enhances the chance of mental and physical health issues in children and hampers normal growth. One media report highlighted that Canadian income inequality is one of the key reason behind childhood poverty and related impact. It has also been reported that the single-parent families are at major risk of poverty, which has been estimated as 50.3% of children’s family living with poverty, whereas, only 13% children, belonging from two-parent family are living in poverty in Canadian community. In this regards, it has also been identified that the social improvement is also less. In 2012 report, the report revealed 20.6 % children were living in poverty, whereas in 2013 data, the result revealed 20.4 %  (de Boer, Rothwell, & Lee, 2016). Thus, the change in the childhood poverty is so minute, that it is hard to measure. The national childhood poverty rate is 19 % according to this report. The childhood poverty, which has been highlighted in the newspaper article, has a significant impact upon the Canadian economy and society status. According to the author, “the nation is lagging internationally on childhood poverty, but it is not inevitable, the nation has the tools to address the issue and the solutions by which the issue can be resolved”.

Step 2

As a solution of the poverty issue, the national child care policy should be established, which will facilitate  parents to work for reducing their children’s poverty issues and ensure their children’s better future. In addition, the social housing and affordable housing is a key solution for addressing the biggest single expense, which the families would pay. At regional level, some progress has been made with childhood poverty reduction. In 2015 report card, “Let’s Do This: Let’s End Child Poverty for Good” policy for new liberal government can boost the new Canada child benefit, which can be able to reduce the childhood poverty rate by 50 % (CBC News, 2016).

From my opinion, this is a major issue in the Canadian society. Rather, poverty, or more specifically, the poverty issue has affected significantly at international basis. It has significant impact upon a major portion of children’s growth and development as well as the nation’s future. Reading and analyzing the news paper article, now I am able to understand the basis of the social problem, “the child hood poverty” in Canadian society and its impact upon the children’s life, who are going to be the nation’s future. The federal and national government of Canada should give more efforts in giving their best possible effort for addressing the factors influencing the childhood poverty. I have recognized that the educational and economical status of the parents is one of the key issue, because, children are dependent on their parents. Immigration is another major issue contributing in increasing the childhood poverty rate in Canada. From my view point, government is undertaking different policies in different social levels, but due to lack of evaluation and monitoring these policies and recommendations, the nation is not reaching their goals regarding childhood poverty (Raphael, 2014). I feel that a collaboration within all these government levels can have a greater positive impact on the childhood poverty. Immediate action is required to be undertaken, because, the poverty related issues are draining a huge amount of money from the Canadian economy, as a result, it is hampering Canadian productivity associated with advanced health care management, social services as well as criminal justice.  

In the current newspaper article, the topic has been presented in a well-managed way. The author presented the negative impact of the social issue, childhood poverty. The poverty issue is affecting the health care economy of Canada. However, the author did not include statistical part in the article. The international statistics may also include in the article, which might help to gain more information about the actual situation in the Canadian society. The headline of the newspaper article is significant enough, because, the headline itself is information and from my viewpoint, the headlines of a media presentation like newspaper article should include some information, for attracting reader’s attention (cwp-csp.ca, 2016). An informative heading, which include a vital aspect of the matter represented in the article will grab the attention of the readers, compared to an introductory heading without information. The heading is suitable for presenting the content of the social problem. The heading helped me to make a base about the topic before reading. However, if photos were added, it could seek more attention, because, photos or tables are tools for understanding a topic more deeply. Compared to the other newspaper articles, the author has presented the news in formal manner, instead of the statistical part, which is lacking in this article.

Step 3

I was already aware about the fact childhood poverty in Canada, as a major social issue. Thus, this article did not changed my viewpoint, rather helped me to gather more knowledge about the government’s role and other factors about the social issue.

The social problem, childhood poverty in Canada has been highlighted in the article, which can be explained with the help of structural-functionalism theory. According to this theory, the structure of a family directly affects their likelihood of living in poverty (Andersen & Taylor, 2012). This report suggests that Canada is lagging internationally on childhood poverty. This theory depicts that the stratification and inequality are the beneficial social phenomenon. According to the social structure, the high status and qualified people can get the opportunity to achieve high positions in society. This logic depicts that inequality ensures that the most functionally vital jobs are acquired by best-qualified people. Thus, poverty remains in the society constantly, as the poor people do not get the opportunity to get those positions, due to social stratification. Theory supports the other literatures view that the child belonging from a single-parent family is more likely to raise in poverty.

The author depicted that the society has solutions and the tools to address the issue. The structural functionalism theory helps to connect the structure of the family and the statistics of people in poverty. Thus, this theory will help to address the gap between the social stratification and with the help of government the gap can be addressed and initiatives for mitigating the gap can be planned.

The childhood poverty has affected the Canadian society in different aspects. It is significant public health concern. I have drawn from my research that family income is one of the key factors. It is affecting the children’s health, due to inaccessibility of health care and education, as a result of poverty. The result is negative health outcomes of the poor children. Poverty and related issues are not only affecting the children’s health at their childhood, rather these issues are also affecting them in their future lives (Kohut, 2015). Poverty is a global issue, which is related to the health care economy of global health care management. thus, it is significantly affecting the health economy. It has become a problem, because, poverty is leading to several health issues of those children, which enhances the cost of health care services and enhancing the health gap between the indigenous and non-indigenous population in Canada.

I have picked this social problem because, this social issue has significant impact upon both economic and health domain and this social issue is not only embedded in Canada, rather poverty is a global issue.

I have suggested with the help of the current newspaper article that government should collaborate all the levels to take an overall approach, that would be more effective.

Government has established several policies in this regards and some work has already done in regional level, however, more immediate and collaborative action should be undertaken (Raphael, 2014).

Conclusion

This assignment is focused on exploring the effectiveness of media presentation to enhance public awareness. In this context, a newspaper article regarding childhood poverty in Canada has been selected published by a renowned newspaper in Canada. The article has been analyzed according to the Structural-functionalism theory.  The article content has also been reviewed the social issue from a broader concept.

Reference List

Bailey, M. (2015). One in five Canadian children lives in poverty - NEWS 1130. NEWS 1130. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://www.news1130.com/2015/11/24/canadian-children-poverty/

CBC News,. (2016). 1 in 5 B.C. children still living in poverty, report says. CBC News. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/child-poverty-report-1.3334440

cwp-csp.ca,. (2016). The Cost of Poverty | Canada Without Poverty. Cwp-csp.ca. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://www.cwp-csp.ca/poverty/the-cost-of-poverty/

de Boer, K., Rothwell, D., & Lee, C. (2016). Child and family poverty in Canada: Implications for child welfare research | Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal. Cwrp.ca. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://cwrp.ca/infosheets/child_poverty

de Wit PhD, M. L. (2007). The impact of poverty on the current and future health status of children.

Kohut, T. (2015). Nearly 1 in 5 Canadian children living in poverty: report. Global News. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://globalnews.ca/news/2360311/nearly-1-in-5-canadian-children-living-in-poverty-report/

Raphael, D. (2014). The issue is not poor children but family poverty. Thespec.com. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/4299112-the-issue-is-not-poor-children-but-family-poverty/

Andersen, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2012). Sociology: the essentials. Nelson Education.