Does impoverishment have a gender?
One has to ask this question after seeing the statistics on women’s income over the ages, and on the number of women that live in poverty. In thinking about women’s poverty, we realize that the women we serve through our women’s centers didn’t just wake up one morning poor and alone. This kind of situation evolves over time throughout women’s different stages of life based on the choices made during each stage. We realize that women’s socialisation, society’s expectations of women, the division of labour based on gender and the lack of information about laws and social programs each contribute the load borne by women.
We were able to identify a certain number of causes to women’s impoverishment thanks to the interviews with 146 women from the Montérégie region. Many are associated with social roles and societal perception of social roles. The causes we found foster restrictions and social barriers during the stages of life of women. These barriers eventually become roadblocks for women who seek a greater financial autonomy for themselves.
Questions to consider…
- In an increasing individualistic society, where equality is a shared and highly regarded value, generally perceived as having been achieved, how can we explain that women (52% of the population) are increasingly living in situations of poverty?
- Does the promise of equality come with a commitment to allowing both women and men to fulfill their full potential?
- Why are women individually more at risk of the financial obstacles presenting themselves at each stage of life?
- In a egalitarian society, how is it that women contribute to the collective good by sacrificing their own opportunities for development and personal fulfilment?
- Why does a society that aspires to sustaining its population growth not support the parents that wish to remain active members of society accordingly?
- How can society respond to counter the impoverishment of women?
- How can we provide for those who decide to put their life on hold to take for a sick loved one?
- How can parents maintain their professional competencies while they are on parental leave?
- What are the best ways to avoid having to depend on social welfare?
- Are there other options to explore before going from unemployment to welfare?
- What are we doing for women who return to the work force after a parental leave? What programs to we offer women who are not support recipients?
- Why is our population not more informed about their rights and the laws in effect?
- Lack of information negatively contributes to the impoverishment of women…
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These questions were each raised through discussions with the women participating in discussion groups.
- We seek to continue the dialogue at an upcoming conference. See “Conference” page.
- A PowerPoint presentation about this project and its approach is available from the “Tools” section.
- A quiz is available to identify your risk of impoverishment.
- The posters about the three main issues raised by women during our discussion groups do not provide any answers. Links towards various resources are provided to assist in your quest for information and answers.
Our program’s goals :
Collectively:
- Develop a shared understanding of impoverishment;
- Distinguish impoverishment from poverty;
- Identify the critical stages of life where women encounter the most factors leading to impoverishment;
- Unearth potential paths for action towards countering women’s impoverishment;
- Share the social responsibilities taken on by women when they contribute to the collective good.
Individually:
- Foster women’s reflexes to seek out and confirm information;
- Contribute to a dialogue about negotiation and negotiation dynamics between couples;
- Raise awareness about the financial impacts of the various decisions women make in good faith and for the benefit of the majority;
- Ask ourselves how many personal “choices” are actually imposed on women? And is this in response to social pressure?
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