The “Financial Lives of Girls and Women” survey was commissioned by Barbara Stewart, a portfolio manager at Cumberland Private Wealth Management Inc. The results indicate that women tend to be privately confident about their financial planning abilities, and an overwhelming majority of women are the key decision-makers in their households when it comes to personal finances. Over 90% of women are responsible for household spending, and often have the final word when it comes to family finances.

The survey showed that women have a lack of interest in conventional financial news sources (which tend to be geared toward male consumers). Women tend to prefer to rely on real-life examples provided in newspaper and television stories to help them make financial planning decisions.

The results of Stewart’s survey contradict the commonly-held assumption that women leave the financial planning to men.

To read more about the survey “The Financial Lives of Girls and Women”, see:

• The White Paper (PDF) prepared by Barbara Stewart.
• This article on advisor.ca.
• This article in The Globe and Mail.

The StatsCan study indicates that a clear association exists between the occurrence of type 2 diabetes in women and their socio-economic level. In particular, women in lower-income households were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those in high-income households.

Read the CBC news story: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/08/18/diabetes-income-canadians.html#ixzz0xA5NdqRB

Read the Statistics Canada study: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2010003/article/11325-eng.htm

Grace and Emma speak with TL Rader and guest host Cub Carson about the DIVA Foundation, upcoming events, and what participants can expect from the DIVA Foundation Golf Classic on September 20th. Emma also discusses the psychology of golf and gives a glimpse of what participants at the Golf Classic can expect during her seminar on the mental game of golf.

To buy tickets for the DIVA Foundation Golf Classic email tickets@divafoundation.org or call Darlene at 613 444 0123

For more information visit http://divafoundation.org/Golf.html

The UN Millenium Development Goals  for maternal and child health aim to do the following:

• Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
• Achieve universal access to reproductive health
• Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

Prime Minister Harper promoted the maternal health initiative as a key issue at this year’s G8 and G20 summits. Canada set an example by committing, proportionately, the largest amount of funds toward the cause. Aid groups, however, say that the total amount pledged falls far short of what is actually required to sufficiently reduce maternal and infant mortality and illness or provide universal access to reproductive health in the developing world and come close to meeting the Millenium Development Goals.  

Few details are available about any specific plans in place for the funds, although the Prime Minister’s Office stated that funds will be directed toward a limited number of high-risk countries such as Haiti, Afghanistan, Mali, Tanzania and Mozambique. Funding would target initiatives aimed at improving care for pregnancy and child delivery, on nutrition for mothers and young children, and addressing the leading killers of young children. The Canadian government also confirmed in late 2009 that although it would support family-planning measures, including contraception, in its child and maternal health-care initiative for developing countries, it would not fund abortions.

Read more about the commitments toward maternal and child health at the G8 and G20 summits:

The Globe and Mail

CBC News

Read more about the problems facing maternal and child health in the developing world:

CBC News – FAQ: Achieving maternal and child health goals

UN Millenium Development Goals for Maternal Health

UN Millenium Development Goals for Child Health

Canada’s Plan for reaching MDG’s for Maternal Health

Canada’s Plan for reaching the MDG’s for Child Health

The demands of childcare, single-parenting and caring for aging relatives — tasks which are most often taken on by women — are cited as key reasons that people are feeling the time crunch. In general, a higher proportion of females (22.7%) than males (16.6%) reported feeling time pressure.

The report lists the following pressures that are contributing to Canadians’ time crunch:

•  A greater demand by consumers for services in the evenings, weekends and holiday
• A lack of comprehensive childcare support for many Canadians
• An increase in urban sprawl (people are spending more time commuting to work)
• Greater innovation and adaptation of workplace technologies (smartphones and laptops keep employees perpetually “on call”)
• An increase in passive activities among children and adolescents (young people are exceeding recommended amounts of time in front of the TV, video, and computer screens)
•  An aging population (in the absence of community support for seniors, families are taking on the care of their elder members)
• Leisure and culture activities are becoming more expensive.  

You can read the report, Caught in the Time Crunch: Time Use, Leisure and Culture in Canada (PDF, 1MB), or visit the Canadian Index of Wellbeing web site for more information about factors affecting Canadians’ way of life.

The project is culminating this year in the G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto on June 15 to 26, an inaugural gathering of women from each of the G20 countries which will parallel the G20 Summit of political leaders occurring the following week in Muskoka. Female delegates from the G20 countries will meet to share ideas on how to reach the UN’s Millenium Development Goals that most impact women and girls. Panelists from around the world representing corporate, non-profit, research, and education sectors will be speaking during the first few days of the conference. The second part of the conference will consist of workshops covering the topics of blogging, media and public relations, using digital media to communicate to the world, government relations, intergenerational mentorship and leadership, and managing finances. Delegates will also travel to Ottawa to meet with Canadian Members of Parliament and Senators.

Next year, G(irls)20 Summit will reconvene prior to the G20 Summit in France.

Meanwhile, the Girls and Women project is inviting everyone to share their ideas on “how to provide universal education, improve child and maternal health, and eradicate poverty so that girls and women can fully realize their potential and contribute to the economic prosperity and stability of their communities and countries.” Visit The Change Room to share your ideas, or read or vote for others’ ideas about what actions or initiatives should be implemented to maximize the impact of women in the world.

To read more about this study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, see the article on CBC.ca.

Problem is, there simply just aren’t enough doctors and specialists to go around. This is not a new problem in Canada but what is new, in a study released in April that discovered that specialist wait times are in fact higher for women. A study done by Statistics Canada found that women are much less likely than men to see a specialist within a month of their initial visit.

The report states that 51 per cent of men said they saw a specialist within a month, compared with 42 per cent of women.

So, what does this mean for Canadian women? Well, really don’t wait. Go to the doctor when you start to feel sick or there is a problem. And be sure to follow-up if you think it is taking a while to get the appointment with a specialist.

To read more about the Statistics Canada study and its findings, read the article on the CBC website.

This week, American researchers reported that a simple blood screen followed up by an ultrasound as indicated by the blood test detected malignant ovarian tumours with minimal false alarms. Although the study is relatively preliminary, it supports early results from a larger study underway in the UK that will show clearer results in the next few years.

Currently, no reliable screening test exists to diagnose ovarian cancer. Symptoms and markers can be vague or elusive, and exploratory surgery is required to confirm a diagnosis. This can lead to either avoiding or delaying diagnosis, or the opposite problem of treating symptoms that aren’t necessarily cancerous with an invasive surgical procedure. The researchers studying the blood test plus ultrasound screening method believe that they are on track to developing a screening process that will find aggressive tumours while avoiding unnecessary false positives and subsequent surgeries.

According to the Ovarian Cancer Canada organization, the risk of developing ovarian cancer increases as women age: 60% of those diagnosed are over the age of 50. To find out more about the symptoms, treatments and prognosis of ovarian cancer, visit Ovarian Cancer Canada.

Read more about this new research on ovarian cancer screening at Medscape Medical News or CBC News.

The report summarized that there is an ever increasing burden placed on family members of cancer patients when dealing with the end-of-life care. One of the main factors is this is due to the rise in the number of deaths associated with cancer. This increase in combination with a weak support system for patients and family members means that these affected groups are not getting the support they need.

The Canadian Cancer Society recommends:

• An increase in how long a caregiver can receive financial benefits for compassionate care to 26 weeks from the current six weeks, given the unpredictability of death.
• Establish a caregiver tax benefit that would be paid monthly to help caregivers with the costs related to caring for a loved one with cancer.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/05/19/cancer-canada-statistics.html