There are a number of issues that you raised in that question. The Supreme Court has commented about the feminization of poverty, and historically I don't think there's any doubt about that.
The interesting thing is that in Manitoba, we have a symposium every year from the courts—the bar and the bench—and one year we did it on spousal support. We commissioned a study because we see a different reality today—this was a few years ago—from what we have seen historically. More fathers—let's call a spade a spade—are involved in parenting than they used to be.
The government just came out with certain benefits for both parents for parental leave. We asked the question of whether we are still seeing a feminization of poverty. The answer, surprisingly to me a little bit, was yes. I thought we'd attained a higher level of equality. Apparently that isn't the case.
What we did learn, though, was that it has decreased. I think that in the light of government initiatives and society's evolution, you're going to see a change. One of the key criteria is child care. That leads to poverty, to impoverishment, largely of women, who have been the primary parent.
Do you know what Sweden has for spousal support? Nothing. Zero. They don't have the concept. Do you know what Scotland has for spousal support? They have a maximum of three years. If you're married for 30 years in Scotland, it's three years. That's what you get. Interesting. Do we know this? No, we don't generally know this. I know it because I'm a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, so we look at other jurisdictions and what happens out there. It's really interesting that this is the case. However, in Sweden, of course, they have great child care for both parents, which we don't have as much. I'm not criticizing anything, although you may take it the way that you choose.
The point is that as more fathers or other parents stay home to help raise the children, I predict you'll see a decrease in the feminization of poverty. It's a long-term prospect, and we're seeing it beginning and it should continue.
In terms of shared parenting child support, which is what I talked about in the letter to the minister and elsewhere, I think that's true. We need that, because people do fight. People can fight about everything, and in family law you see people at their worst. Family violence, by the way, is a spectrum, and at the beginning of a breakdown of a marriage or a relationship, people sometimes do stupid things. However, it's at the low end.
The point is that if we could reduce the fighting by having a predictable shared parenting formula, which hopefully the CBA, which I'm not speaking on behalf of, is going to work toward in the future.... We certainly will. We've talked historically to various ministers about that, and we will try to move that forward. I think it should help.
I hope that answers your question.
Thank you again.