Investing in Families and Children-Family Policies in Canada PDF

Investing in Families and Children-Family Policies in Canada Chapter 15 by Krull and Maki Family Policies  Family policy within the context of broader social policy is influenced by political environments, processes of globalization, and economic restructuring (today, economic uncertaint...

Investing in Families and Children-Family Policies in Canada Chapter 15 by Krull and Maki Family Policies  Family policy within the context of broader social policy is influenced by political environments, processes of globalization, and economic restructuring (today, economic uncertainty)  The universal approach versus the targeted approach to family policies  Key policy issues face Canadian families at all phases of the life course  Policies should reflect a forward-looking family initiative as families continue to change in arrangements and interpersonal relationships  We must develop policy opportunities to meet current and future challenges of family life  Liberal welfare state: beginning at the end of WW2, refers to gov’t- sponsored programs designed to improve the social and economic well- being of families and individuals, comprised of an intricate web of supports  Income and security payments, social insurance, universal and targeted cash transfers and services such as housing, education and healthcare Family Policies  Social policy and programs are gov’t arrangements aimed at the distribution of social resources and the promotion of the welfare of the individual and society  Family policy and programs – a subset of social policy concerned with the problems of families in relation to society and whose goal is the advancement of family well-being, includes a set of principles about the state’s role in family life which is implemented through legislation or a plan of action  3 categories:  Laws-marriage, adoption, divorce, child support  Policies to help family income-tax concessions, maternity, paternity leaves  Provision of direct services- child care, home care health services, subsidized housing  At the federal level-no explicit family policy, rather a jumble of services, programs that are based on 2 family ideology models:  Patriarchal model of the family (Spouse in the House rule of the 80s)  Individual responsibility model of the family (from the 1980s on) Family Policies  Chronology of some family policies and reforms:  Family tax benefits, (1918-1993) to provide deductions for people with dependents  Mothers/widow pensions (1920)  Old age pensions for those with low income, became universal in 1951  Family allowance (1945) monthly payment to mothers with kids under 16, then became Child tax benefit in 1993  Unemployment assurance- a federal program started in 1940 with other benefits added like maternity leave (provincial)  Medicare (1966) for public hospitals  Spouses allowance (1975) for low income pensioners, mainly women  Resolution to end child poverty (1989) – all parties agree  Canada Child tax Benefit (1998)  Choice in child care allowance (2006)-$100 monthly payment per child under 6  Canada child benefit program (2016)-income-tested program combining previous tax benefits  Indigenous Services (2017)-support for delivery of services in health and care to First Nations, Metis and Inuit families and their communities  Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in 2020  Subsidized Day Care (2022, federal, 10$ a day, but not all provinces have it, means-test)  Dental Care Program (2024) –free dental care for kids under 16 and low income seniors Family Policies  If the family is Canada’s bedrock social institution, then why are families not doing better?  Proof – child poverty, domestic violence, housing, middle-class families are struggling, under-employed and low salaries, unpaid housework versus paid work  Targeted, piecemeal, ad hoc approach to family policy based on the individual responsibility family model (gender blind)  What are the disadvantages of this model for family policy and families?  Why have labor in the formal economy and household work been socially construed as distinct spheres? What consequences does this double vision have for policy? For gender equity?  In what ways do Canada’s current family policies privilege and reinforce the hegemonic nuclear family model and traditional gender roles? Family Policies  Quebec’s Family Policies: An Example to Follow?  Family policies are based on a social responsibility or social democratic model  State interventionist model (or a nanny state)  From pro-natal to pro-family policies  Pronatalism policies (1988-97) monetary incentives to have kids and many of them, part of a social engineering program based on fears of losing the French culture and identity  Pro-family policies (1997 –present) – no targeting of specific families  Universal policies for tax credits for families with kids, low-cost childcare services, half day kindergarten for 4 year old, full day kindergarten for 5 year-old, signed on to federal Dental care program  Family allowances and tax breaks are universal but target lone-parent families  Most flexible and generous parental leave programs  #1 premise = employed parents make the happiest of homes  But Quebecers pay some of the highest taxes in the world, debt load is high and child poverty exists in the province Family Policies  Do you think that child poverty can be eradicated by the construction and funding of a comprehensive national childcare policy?  What challenges does Canada face in developing a cohesive, proactive and progressive approach to a national family policy?  What does the future hold for families in Canada:  Continued diversity among families and marriage as an institution = the ever- adaptability of families  Transformations in gender identities, sexuality  LGBTQ families and their rights  Divorce and cohabitation as alternatives to permanent monogamous marriages  More 3-generation, co-habituating families  Overall low fertility coupled with high immigration rates and Indigenous population explosion  New reproductive and genetic technologies  Worldwide changes – population, climate and AI  Changes in work-family relationship to a more nurturing, carer-friendly work culture Family Policies  COVID-19s Lessons for predicting the future for families  The pandemic disproportionately affected carer-employees  Employers need to support these carer-employees-without effective employer supports, carer-employees are more likely to experience:  Reduced work performance, increased absenteeism or some (mostly females) leaving altogether  Decreased social inclusion, struggles around mental health  You’ve been hired by the federal gov’t to develop a universal policy and program delivery system for family support and services. Who would you consult/bring to the table? What kinds of policies and programs would you want to put in place?  Conclusion: families will always exist-some will prosper, others less so- and children will continue to be raised within family settings, which will probably be even more diverse than at present.