Canada

Single Mothers

Single mothers in Canada face a variety of stressors related to securing gainful employment, managing childcare arrangements, and maintaining a reliable support network. Unemployed lone mothers are twice as likely to report a high level of distress compared with other groups; regardless of employment status, single mothers are more likely to report both high personal and chronic stress. Single mothers may have difficulty accessing affordable housing, as Canada's national rental vacancy rates totaled 2.2 percent as a national average in 2008. The lack of affordable housing has been attributed to the growing gap between the cost of home ownership and the affordability of renting. According to Statistics Canada, 38percent of lone-parent families headed by females had incomes below the poverty line, compared to 13 percent of lone-parent families headed by males.

Health Care Quality and Access

Canadian mothers are guaranteed access to health care, independent of income levels, through Canada's public health care system. Health care policy comes under the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories, which may impose premiums based on earnings. According to a 2002 study, 26 percent of Canadians reported that access to health care had decreased in recent years, and lack of physician choice has been cited as a symptom of the system. Access to health care in rural areas can be problematic, particularly in remote northern communities, where evacuation for birth is common. Only 3 percent of obstetrician gynecologists practice in rural Canada, and physicians have cited both a lack of financial incentives and the lack of specialist backup as reasons for their reluctance to practice outside urban settings. Mothers in rural Canada deal with a host of issues related to health care, including separation from loved ones during hospitalization, arrangement of childcare to attend medical appointments, travel-related stress, and a weak patient/physician relationship due to high rates of provider turnover.

Employment and Motherhood

Fifty-six percent of women in Quebec were in the paid labor force in 2004; in 2006, 73 percent of all Canadian women with children under the age of 16 in the household were employed. Despite increased participation in the labor force, mothers continue to bear the majority of domestic duties, and housework remains unequally divided. In Canada's competitive labor market, a working mother's prioritization of family responsibilities, such as child rearing, [Page 158]may contribute to a perceived lack of commitment in the workplace. Overall, working mothers earn 2 percent less in hourly wages than do working women without children. Many mothers experience stress in balancing work and domestic duties, and technology has further blurred the lines between the workplace and home. Of the over 50 percent of Canadian women in the work force, 69 percent are mothers with at least one child under the age of 3. Some mothers choose to work fewer hours, or leave the work force for long periods of time in order to meet family commitments. In 2006, 15 percent of female part-time employees stated that they worked reduced hours in order to care for children.

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