My Experience in Poverty
As a child I went through what many families today are going though with the current economy. When my parents were married I enjoyed a comfortable life. We had a nice house, plenty of food, great toys, etc. Then, when my parents divorced and my mom and dad both lost their jobs our lifestyle dramatically changed. It started by losing our house, our car, and from there things got worse. My mother was left to care for my sister and I while my father left the state to work. She did her best, but at first she didn't know what to do. My sister was just born and I was just starting school. She couldn't afford daycare and work, so she had to find local resources to help her out. She did her best and this experience made me the person I am today. My sister was too young to realize the drastic change in lifestyle, but my world came crashing down. Especially when we began eating the cheap food from the fantastic food my chef parents had always provided for us. I learned about managing little money at an early age, and I also learned to be independent. This time was very stressful for my mom, and I learned to take care of myself so I wouldn't add any stress to her plate. My mother's family helped out a lot, and we received financial assistance for most of my elementary school career. My sister struggled to make it through elementary school, and when she entered Jr. high she received a large amount of support from my dad's pension and life insurance. The two different lives my sister and I lived under the same roof made us two very different adults. I learned independence and she learned dependence. I had six years of stability before she was born, and that stability provided me with the coping techniques I needed to get out of poverty.
Poverty in Canada
Canada has weathered the world financial troubles relatively well. The came out of the recession strong, and their economy continues to flourish. However, "when it comes to child poverty, it ranks 22nd-worst out of the 31 countries in the OECD, a rich-country grouping. More than 3m Canadians (or one in ten) are poor; and 610,000 of them are children" (The Economist, 2010, p. 1). My providential governments have launched poverty-reduction programmes. The focus of many is to help people back into work. One providence, Newfoundland, has been successful and cut the poverty rate in half. In 2010 a House of Commons committee urged the federal government to adopt a national strategy. "The response of Stephen Harper’s Conservative administration was that the best long-term strategy to fight poverty is “the sustained employment of Canadians” (The Economist, 2010, p. 1).
Resources
The Economist (2010) Mean streets the persistence of poverty amid plenty. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/17581844
After your mom got fired its amazing how she could bring food, and clothes into the house without work. It's sad because you, and your sister had an unstable childhood. I always wondered when things like this happen where is the family, you all could have gone to? Thanks for sharing and look how far you have come through it all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story about how poverty affected your life as a child growing up. You took a hardship and used it as a teachable moment for your future. I recently read a book that featured two sisters and their adult lives sound similar to you and your sister. Although this was a fiction book the relationship between the sisters and the background story the author told aligns with what you were staying about how your sister and you grew up under the same roof but had two totally different experiences that shaped who you are as adults. In the book the older sister was very aware of their living situation growing up and did everything to protect her sister. She protected her from everything- the mom's trips that lasted days to not having money to pay for things such as food or when they were older college. The older sister grew up and was very aware of money and started her own business and the younger sister took many things for granted since she had been sheltered from the struggles her family faced.
ReplyDelete