Mothers Do Without Canada is a rich country in global terms and is ranked first in the United Nations' Human Development Index. Canada has also enjoyed more than 50 years of social development since the Second World War to build a post-industrial society that has a strong social framework. Yet poverty remains a reality in Canada and growing child poverty is a matter of national concern. For children, the consequences of growing up in poverty too often mean ill-health, poor nutrition, unhealthy development, and poor school readiness.
Hunger is a universal symbol of deprivation and an important indicator of extreme poverty.
In 1994, some 57,000 Canadian families with children are considered to be hungry families. The data for this study were derived from the first cycle of data collection, and included families with children aged 0 to 11 years. The two most common coping strategies in the face of hunger are seeking help from the food bank and turning to relatives for assistance. Very different types of families seem to use these two strategies. Families likely to seek help from relatives are generally characterized by having two biological parents, fewer children aged 0 to 17, and household incomes that are not among the very low.