They are more likely to experience periods of economic insecurity that can harm healthy development, and to suffer the effect of poverty throughout their lives. In addition to available monies, economic security refers to the stability and source of income. Parents who experience unemployment face a sudden drop in income, while many others who still have jobs are fearful of the continuing cycle of cutbacks and downsizing. Due to high unemployment rates, families feel insecure about their economic futures and many are unwilling to make major purchases or investments. Parents with young children go out to work.
More people work longer hours, or have two jobs, or try to combine work and study.
When you add up their total paid and unpaid commitments, many people work well over 100 hours a week. But the story doesn't end in 1995. Statistics Canada will re-visit the same children every two years into adulthood, looking at a range of family, household, and community characteristics that affect child development. To address a major information gap on Canadian children and how they develop over time. We see children and their environments go into a box, and we see them come out transformed.