"In the Nordic countries multitasked family policy system helps families to reconcile family life and employment" (Forssen, 2000, p.16). The stresses and strains of the Canadian system are; therefore, largely absent from the Nordic system. Canada's system of social welfare, being largely after the fact, does not possess the same prescriptive effect as Scandinavia's program's of paid family leave, paid childcare, income redistribution, and so forth. The Nordic nations seek to prevent the problems arising by altering the fundamental situation of children's upbringing and family life.

Naturally, physical and mental health play major roles in relative rates of poverty. Canada is lucky, at least, to have a system of universal free medical care that ensures that children, as well as adults, receive a wide range of health services regardless of income. The system provides Canada's children with a safety net that is largely absent in the United States, and which...
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