Women are faced with issues such
as food insecurity, lack of ability to obtain nutritious food, lack of support
systems, feelings of judgment, and lastly stress and its impacts, (Patricia L.
Williams et al., 2012). The study went on to evaluate women’s perspectives of
how they manage when they are unable to provide for themselves and their
family. After I read this article, I wanted to share my findings from further
research done on this topic.
Over the duration of this course, we have become increasingly aware of poverty
restrictions in Canada. Poverty in Canada is an important issue that many
people are faced with. It is not a secret that women experience poverty
differently then men do and that there are gender gaps in wages and in job
positions in the workplace, (Patricia L. Williams et al 2012). This makes it
evident that women are not equal with men. This is something we all know. Women
experiencing inequality with those two areas in the workplace creates a cycle
that leaves women in poverty more than we think. It should also be noted
that many policies exclude women who are working for low wages and are not
recipients of income assistance prior to their employment, (Patricia L.
Williams et al 2012).
With these barriers there is
another barrier added. This is the fact that in many occasions a male will end
up with a job that a female applied for, which leaves women to look for other
resources as a means of income, (Patricia L. Williams et al 2012). Looking for
resources, the ones found are often not enough and the one resource that I
found most commonly restricting was the need for food, (Patricia L. Williams et
al 2012). Women are faced with food barriers, which in turn leaves their children
faced with food barriers.
Some of the most interesting
facts I found within the article were facts that I was not aware of and I have
become saddened to know about. A social policy that is supposed to help women
is also setting up more barriers for them. Women experienced stress in the
context of having to deal with the very organizations that were meant to help
them. A number of participants recounted stories of being denied
assistance, (Patricia L. Williams et al 2012).
I read that food
banks aren’t all they are assumed to be, that the quality can be very bad, the hours
of operation are not easy to work with, and sometimes women are only allowed a
few times a year, (Patricia L. Williams et al 2012). This was an awakening
group of facts for me because you want to believe that those in need are being
assisted but the belief itself is not enough when the reality is that the help
is not actually as beneficial as we may think.
A barrier that
women receiving income assistance share the commonality of food security is the
assurance and confidence that enough food would be available and accessible in
the present and the future, (Patricia L. Williams et al 2012).
In addition, it
should be noted that the ones in need are not always those you expect to be. At
The Daily Bread food bank in Toronto; 19 percent were working, 33 percent had
some college or university education, 41 percent had a disability or long term
illness, 37 percent were children, and 42 percent of all said they go
hungry at least once a week, (Hick, Steven 2007).
Women are
also faced with compromises. Women have to pay the phone bill and the power
bill and the only place they have control over is the food budget, which is
where low-income women must compromise their and their children's nutrition to
obtain sufficient quantities of food, (Patricia L.
Williams, et al., 2012)
Another
compromise women have to make is social acceptance. People look down on them
and living in smaller communities makes it more of an issue, and damages self
worth feelings, (Patricia L.
Williams, et al., 2012)
Present state
child-support laws have fallen far behind the needs of a rapidly growing population
of one-parent homes and that enforcement of the existing inadequate laws is
weakly and unevenly applied, (Sawhill, Isabel 1976).
In
conclusion, women remain among the poorest of the poor in Canada. As Canada
enters the 21st century, almost 19% of adult women are poor, and about 2.2
million adult women are now counted as low income, compared with 1.8 million
who had low incomes in 1980, (Townson, Monica 2000). These statistics are
increasing and unfortunately, our society thinks that there are progressions
being made. I hope that my blog has outlined some of the ways in which this
policy looks good on the outside but has clear shortcomings once you’re exposed
to the reality of being hungry.
Geraldine
Hick, Steven. (2007). Social Welfare in Canada:
Understanding Income Security,
Second Edition, Toronto:
Thompson Educational Publishers. ISBN 1-55077-168-8.
Reimer. (2012). I Would Have
Never Thought That I Would Be in Such a
Predicament. Journal of Hunger
& Environmental Nutrition, Volume 7, pages 253-270.
Sawhill, Isabel. (1976). Discrimination and Poverty among
Women Who
Head Families. , Women
and the Workplace: The Implications of
Occupational. Volume 1, pages 201-211.
Townson, Monica. (2000). A Report Card on Women and Poverty.
The Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives
acknowledges the financial support of the Canadian Labour Congress.
