More Work Needed To Help Families

Families don’t face just one issue or problem; all of their challenges intersect. 

Sarah* describes her family as traditional, blended, interracial, immigrant, single-parent, cross generational and adoptive. 

There are four adults and two children in Sarah’s family, and other family members, such as great-grandparents, live with them. Many of the challenges they face intersect, making it hard to pinpoint their biggest challenge. 

Sarah is one of over 3,000 people who filled out our Let’s Talk Families BC! survey in 2014. The biggest challenges that families said they faced were income, children’s care, job or employment, caring for family members and education. 

“A lot of our concerns have been around my siblings who have special needs as they are slowly transitioning to adulthood, and what that entails,” said Sarah. “We worry a lot about what will happen when they turn 19 and are no longer eligible for funding from the government. They require a lot of support but we’re realizing that getting these in place for them by the time they get out is not going to happen.”

Sarah works with children and families, and tries to make positive changes in her work. She believes that children and families need to be a greater priority, and more research needs to be done to determine what can help families. She believes that both politicians and ordinary citizens need to do more to advocate for families. 

“I think it’s hard to believe that BC is concerned with its children and families when these populations are consistently the ones suffering from provincial budget cuts,” said Sarah. “There is a lack of social and political activity in our Canadian citizens, where we just go along with the status quo and aren’t willing to stand up for social change.”

If you think more needs to be done to help families, share your story in the comments section below. 

*Name has been changed