Single Mothers In Canada Essay

Certain populations are perpetually disadvantaged in Canadian society - or so it would seem from current and historical evidences. Among these populations are people of colour, immigrants, persons with disabilities, and women. The latter of these persons are further ranked into a social hierarchy based upon many different characteristics. One subcategory of women who rank relatively low on this social hierarchy are single mothers - defined in this case as a woman, who is unmarried, divorced or widowed, who has children aged zero to eighteen under her primary care. Single mothers make up 79.9% of all lone-parent families in Canada, representing 12.8% of all families that partook in a 2011 census (“Portrait of Families”, 2011). Despite the large number of female-headed families, there is a gross lack of supports in place for single mothers. Throughout history, the development of the Ontario Mothers’ Allowance as well as other welfare programs have offered some assistance to these women and families in need, however the lack of consistency as well as conservative reforms have failed the Canadian population. Currently in Canada, 21% of single mothers live below the poverty line (“The Facts About Women and Poverty”, n.d.), including those on one or more social welfare supports. It is vital that Canada begins to recognize the importance of implementing additional policies and supports for single mothers because the country cannot afford to leave over 12% of their population’s children in the dust, …show more content…
No. Because I mean, once you get out there, you can’t get back on social assistance to get that support you’re going to need to go for your career. You know, and like, it’s going to be tough later on. (Crookshanks,