Poverty & Girls

Being poor is not just about having no money. It can mean not having enough to eat or a roof over your head, being in poor health, and having little or no education. It can mean feeling powerless to change your life, and not being able to control what happens to you.

Effects on Girls

Girls and women are particularly affected by and vulnerable to poverty. This is partly because they have less power to fight it, have less knowledge of or access to the means to overcome it, or they are on the receiving end of family poverty. Being born underweight, given little or bad quality food and little or no education can prevent girls from developing properly. Poverty can also force girls to work or get married instead of going to school.

Causes of Poverty

The underlying reasons for poverty can include war or armed conflict, natural disasters, population growth, debt, poor government planning, limited job opportunities, as well as inequalities linked to race, gender, age or disability. Poverty is at the root of most problems facing girls today - even those that seem to have nothing to do with it, like HIV/AIDS, violence, or disability.

Child Poverty in Canada

Poverty isn't only found in developing countries. Many people are poor in Canada, too. Relatively speaking, poverty in Canada may not be as harsh, but it is similar to that in developing countries. Poverty in Canada still denies people the opportunities to develop their abilities, blocks their access to essential resources like education and healthcare, and ultimately excludes them from society.

One out of every six children are poor
More than one million children live in poverty
One in three of all children in Canada have been exposed to poverty
5 million Canadians live below the poverty line - 1.4 million are children