The YWCA Practice Framework is a comprehensive document developed to focus and guide staff at the YWCA in a unified philosophy and was developed with expert consultation with frontline staff, leadership and external stakeholders. The document also serves to clarify for the general public the YWCA’s clear focus on women, particularly those who are vulnerable.
This blog series will break out sections and excerpts from the YWCA Practice Framework to share with our audiences and contribute to the social narratives about women’s issues.
In this edition of our Practice Framework series, we will explore the definition of and context surrounding women’s poverty.
The face of poverty in Canada is a woman’s face and when women live in poverty, so do their children. Our conversation about poverty recognizes that poverty, as an experience, is not only about money (though it’s always about money) it also affects women’s time, ability to interact and participate socially with confidence.
Poverty and violence against women are connected: women recognize that fleeing abuse is likely to plunge them and their children into poverty and perhaps, homelessness. Children of women who have left abuse are five times more likely to live in poverty than women who stay with the abusive partner.
There is significant stigma associated with poverty, as with other conditions or experiences. Historically, poverty definitions have been overly simplistic and looked at statistical calculations such as the Low Income Cutoff to define who is and is not in poverty. Such measures fail to account for personal circumstance related to family size, health, debt levels, housing needs etc. As such, Canadians carry numerous views about what poverty really looks like.
Absolute poverty refers to a set standard (typically related to very basic food, shelter and sanitation) which is the same in all countries and which does not change over time. Relative poverty refers to a standard defined by the specific society in which an individual lives, and the minimum standards deemed adequate in order for a member of that society to meet his or her core needs for survival and societal participation. Relative poverty differs between countries and over time.
Absolute poverty and relative poverty are both valid concepts. The concept of absolute poverty is that there are minimum standards below which no one, anywhere in the world should ever fall. The concept of relative poverty is that in a developed or wealthy country such as Canada, there are higher minimum standards below which no one should fall and these standards should rise if the country becomes richer.
In Calgary, relative poverty encompasses concepts related to housing, home heating and utility bills, transportation, childcare and communication tools. Without access to critical social infrastructure, poverty diminishes an individual’s dignity on top of the negative societal perception of what poverty looks like. All people in all places have the right to live with dignity and have the right to adequate housing, food, water, sanitation, education and health care.
What does absolute poverty and relative poverty look like to you? What examples of relative poverty do you see in Calgary? Reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter to discuss.
For further reading, check out our full Practice Framework here.
