> Child poverty in Canada
Child poverty in Canada
Contact:
Debbie Bell, executive director, HIPPY Canada, 604.291.5145
Debbie Bell, executive director, HIPPY Canada, 604.291.5145
April 20, 2007
The number of Canadian children living in poverty has grown 15 per cent since 2001. Aboriginal and immigrant children are the ones most affected. An international conference on early childhood development (April 30 - May 2) at Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue will bring together academics and practitioners from nine countries to present their research findings on the growing rate of child poverty around the world and in Canada.
The group, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) Canada, based at SFU, organized the meeting. "This is a fundamental issue," said HIPPY chairman Richard Stursberg. "While our national economy is growing, too many children and families are being left behind. This increasing rate of child poverty - in a country as rich as Canada - requires an immediate and multi-faceted response."
Psychologist Isaac Prilleltensky, in a public lecture (Monday, April 30, 7 p.m.), will launch the conference by linking organizational and community change to promoting child and family well-being. "This talk is about ways to tackle personal, organizational, and communal issues at the same time,” he says. “We have tried doing one at a time, and it hasn't worked very well. It surely hasn't worked for problems such as child abuse, addictions, poverty, diabetes, crime, teenage pregnancy, gang violence, poor parenting, educational under-achievement, obesity and unemployment."
Prilleltensky, dean of education at the University of Miami, is co-author of Promoting Well-Being: Linking Personal, Organizational, and Community Change. He received his PhD from the University of Manitoba and is former head of the community psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University.
HIPPY is an international home-based, pre-school learning program for at-risk children and families. It is active in nine countries with seven sites in Canada.
Note: A backgrounder on HIPPY Canada is available.
The group, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) Canada, based at SFU, organized the meeting. "This is a fundamental issue," said HIPPY chairman Richard Stursberg. "While our national economy is growing, too many children and families are being left behind. This increasing rate of child poverty - in a country as rich as Canada - requires an immediate and multi-faceted response."
Psychologist Isaac Prilleltensky, in a public lecture (Monday, April 30, 7 p.m.), will launch the conference by linking organizational and community change to promoting child and family well-being. "This talk is about ways to tackle personal, organizational, and communal issues at the same time,” he says. “We have tried doing one at a time, and it hasn't worked very well. It surely hasn't worked for problems such as child abuse, addictions, poverty, diabetes, crime, teenage pregnancy, gang violence, poor parenting, educational under-achievement, obesity and unemployment."
Prilleltensky, dean of education at the University of Miami, is co-author of Promoting Well-Being: Linking Personal, Organizational, and Community Change. He received his PhD from the University of Manitoba and is former head of the community psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University.
HIPPY is an international home-based, pre-school learning program for at-risk children and families. It is active in nine countries with seven sites in Canada.
Note: A backgrounder on HIPPY Canada is available.