FAMILIES

UNDERSTANDIN
G
Week 9 & 10
Checking in

How are you doing?

How was you weekend?

TODAY'S
AGENDA 01 MIDTERM REVIEW

02 ASSIGNMENT REVIEW

03 RECAP WEEK 9

04 POVERTY

05 NEXT CLASS
COMMERCIAL ASSIGNMENT

ANY QUESTIONS?

Due March 25 by 11:59 PM

IN CLASS TASK #3

ANY QUESTIONS?

Due April 1 by 11:59 PM

 RECAP WEEK
9
• Divorce Overview: Understanding the definition and complexities of divorce.
• The Process and Impact: Exploring the journey through divorce and its effects on families.
• Blended Families: Examining the formation and dynamics of stepfamilies in modern contexts.
• Adapting to Blended Families: Discussing the challenges and adjustments within new family structures.
• Skip-Generation Families: Looking at the unique relationships and cultural considerations in families where

grandparents are the primary caregivers.

 UNDERSTANDING DIVORCE

• Definition: The legal dissolution of a marriage.

• A common deviation from the traditional family
life cycle.
• Involves separation, possible remarriage, and
stabilization into a new family pattern.
• Divorce is diverse and should not be
oversimplified; each experience is unique.
 DIVORCE - THE PROCESS AND
IMPACT
• Decision-making in divorce is multifaceted, not a
single event.
• Separation leads to the redefinition of family
boundaries.
• Emotional and economic crises follow, requiring
individuals to redefine themselves.
• Custodial parents, often women, may face a drop in
standard of living post-divorce.
 BLENDED FAMILIES -
FORMATION AND DYNAMICS
• Historically formed after a spouse's death; now more likely after a divorce.
• Influences include longer life expectancies, changes in divorce law, and
societal shifts.
• Three stages: entering a new relationship, planning the marriage and family,
forming the remarriage family.
 NAVIGATING BLENDED
FAMILIES
• New family boundaries mark a key difference
from first marriages.
• Remarriages involve commitment, with less
romance but more realism.
• The presence of children from previous
relationships and ex-spouses adds complexity.
SKIP-GENERATION FAMILIES AND
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
• The bond between grandparents and grandchildren
is unique, not burdened by parental duties.
• Cultures vary in their approach to caring for the
elderly.
• Some ethnic groups prefer in-family care, while
others utilize community resources like ethnically
centered nursing homes.
Poverty
Week 10
Poverty
Week 10
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Compare various definitions of poverty in

Canada.
• Explain why some families in Canada are poor.
• Understand what poverty can do to children.
• Identify what can be done to reduce family
poverty in Canada.
 Reflection Question:

Do people who live on social assistance

waste tax payers money by drinking,
playing bingo, and passing the day
watching Netflix?
Let's discuss it!
 POVERTY, OFFICIALLY
DEFINED
• Two basic ways of defining poverty:
⚬ Absolute poverty: lacking the minimum
basic requirements necessary for physical
survival
⚬ Another approach considers that poverty is a
relative concept, based on social well-being
in addition to physical survival
 Myths Surrounding Poverty
• Hard work pays off – if people work hard, they are likely to succeed in
life.
• Families that seek help are incompetent
• Public assistance condones failure or takes away the will to be self
sufficient.
 POVERTY, OFFICIALLY
DEFINED
• Low-income cutoffs (LICOs) are definitions of relative
poverty
⚬ A definition of poverty based on comparing
individuals or families to others in the population
⚬ The point where a family spends 20 percent more of
its income on food, clothing, and shelter than the
average comparable family
⚬ Take into account family size

⚬ It’s a way of measuring whether a family has to

spend too large a proportion of its income on basic
food , clothing, and shelter compared with other
Canadian Families.
 WHY ARE SOME FAMILIES
IN CANADA POOR?

The greater concern is for

For many Canadians,
those who find themselves
being poor is a temporary
in a low income situation
situation, not a lifelong
that persists and does not
condition.
get better.
 WHY ARE SOME FAMILIES
IN CANADA POOR?
• One of the most striking facts about poverty in Canada is
that many people who live in poverty have jobs
⚬ 37% of children living in poverty have one
parent who works full time
⚬ 2016: 16 percent of those using food banks
earned the majority of their income through work

First Nations people distinct sociopolitical,

historical , and geographical contexts are
important factors to consider when trying to
understand the health of their children. First
nations children are born into a colonial legacy
that results in low socioeconomic status,
intergenerational trauma associated with
residential schooling, loss of language and
culture, and high levels of discrimination.
WHY ARE SOME FAMILIES IN CANADA POOR?
• Income insecurity
Food security refers to a condition in which all people at all
times have access (physical and economic) to sufficient, safe ,
and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs for a healthy
life.

Food insecurity
• First Nations people, living on and off reserve, have been found
to face high rates of food insecurity. They face challenges of
high price, low quality, and limited availability of nutritious
foods.
⚬Mothers tend to eat less or miss meals altogether so they can
feed their children
⚬Families turn to food banks, soup kitchens, friends, and
relatives for help

https://www.foodnotbought.com/post/food-prices-in-northern-
ontario-first-nations-reserves
 WHY ARE SOME
FAMILIES
IN CANADA POOR?
• Three factors influence the impact of
poverty
⚬ Depth: the amount a family or
individual income is below the
poverty line
⚬ Breadth: other aspects associated
with poverty (e.g., illiteracy,
poor health, physical insecurity)
⚬ Duration: how long poverty lasts
WHAT CAN POVERTY DO TO CHILDREN?
• Children are the largest single group of poor
people in Canada
⚬ 2015: 1.3 million children lived in poverty
⚬ Higher than most Western European
countries, not as high as the US
• Poverty influences the family and community
environments in which a child grows up

Canadian Children in grades 4 and 5 living in North

Bay, Onoutario, remind us that no matter how we
measure poverty, “real” or “relative” poverty for
them means the following:
“ feeling ashamed when dad can’t get a job”; “
pretending that you forgot your lunch”; “ being
afraid to tell your mom you need gym shoes”; “
not buying books at the book fair”; and not “
getting to go on the school trip.”
 WHAT CAN POVERTY DO
TO CHILDREN?
• Poor children more likely to
⚬ Have poorer health (as result of
food insecurity)
⚬ Live in substandard housing
⚬ Live in neighbourhoods that are
unsafe and don’t allow children to
play
⚬ Not have opportunities to play
sports or pursue music, drama, or
other cultural activities
WHAT CAN POVERTY
DO TO CHILDREN?
• School poses many challenges for poor
children
⚬ Often not as ready for school
because of limited experiences, as
well as health problems
⚬ Disadvantage shows up in
vocabulary development for
preschoolers, reading difficulties,
need for special education
 WHAT CAN POVERTY DO
TO CHILDREN?
• School poses many challenges for poor children
⚬ When housing is substandard, poor families
move more often, resulting in children
having to adapt to new schools and different
curriculums
⚬ More poor children repeat grades or drop out
without completing high school
⚬ Few go on to post-secondary education
 WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE
FAMILY POVERTY?
• In early years of European settlement in Canada,
the poor depended almost entirely on their families
or on other private individuals for help
⚬Public assistance provided by local governments
and charities on an emergency basis only
• Gradually a social safety net developed
⚬Basic social security programs needed to support
family life
⚬e.g., Mothers’ Allowance was set up to help
needy children.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE FAMILY
POVERTY?
• Universal Child Care Benefit program was
announced in 2006, and provided a taxable
$100 per month to families for each child
younger than six to help cover childcare
costs.

• In 2016, this was replaced with the Canada

Child Benefit (CCB), which is a tax-free
monthly payment made to eligible families
to help them with the cost of raising
children under 18 years of age.
 WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE
FAMILY POVERTY?

1 2 3
Create jobs: the best form of social Address family insecurity Raise wages
security is to have a job and ⚬https://www.retailcouncil.org/
support oneself resources/quick-facts/
⚬The downturn in the economy that
began in 2008 made job creation both minimum-wage-by-province/
more important and more difficult
 Increase social assistance

WHAT CAN BE Support families with children

DONE TO
REDUCE Focus on disadvantaged groups

FAMILY ⚬Certain groups in Canada who are more

likely to be in a chronic low income
POVERTY? ⚬Any kind of assistance policies should
focus specifically on helping individuals
in these groups
 NEXT CLASS

KEY CONCEPTS

• What is Family: Definitions

• Characteristics of a Healthy Family
• Family Roles
• Family Systems Theory
• An Ecological Approach
• Diversity
• History of Canadian Families
• Canadian Culture
THANK YOU FOR FOR
COMING TO CLASS