Across the country there are two projects involving low income women taking photographs of their lives. In Saskatchewan a group of First Nations women are photographing what they see everyday as part of a project called The Marginalization of Indigenous Women. In New Brunswick, a group of low income women were asked to take photos of their joys and frustrations. Some of photos were of a electricity bill, a fridge door or a luxury cruise ship docked in the harbour. Read more about these two photo exhibits on CBC: "First Nations women use 'photo voice' to tell stories," and "Saint John display exhibits the power of poverty."

A women's activist group in Regina has been trying to get a transition housing shelter for women established. The director of this group says that although Regina does have some battered women's shelters, not all women who require temporary housing qualify. Other shelter resources are not directed to the needs of homeless women. However, despite her efforts to funding, her proposals have always been rejected because it wasn't believed that a shelter like the one proposed would help combat homelessness to a large degree. For more information read the Leader-Post's article on the subject.

In 2003, the incidence of child poverty in Canada was 17.6 percent. In Saskatchewan, 18.3 percent or 40,000 children lived in poverty. Read the Social Policy Research Unit Faculty of Social Work University of Regina's 12 page report (in PDF).

A study by Statistics Canada examined the effect of income and education on healthy aging. It suggested that those with higher incomes will be healthier than those with lower incomes as they age. There is also evidence that income may have a greater impact on health than healthy behaviour, such as regular excerise. The CBC's discussion and critique of its findings provides an overview of the study's findings.

A group of demonstrators in Saskatchewan rallied together to pressure the government to raise the minimum wage from $6.65 an hour to at least $8.16 an hour. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says that businesses cannot afford to pay a higher wage. The government is considering a minimum wage increase and is expected to come to a decision in the spring. For more details read the CBC article about the protest.

A forum which occured in Saskatchewan discussed the issue of homelessness. ALthough not everyone in the province is aware, many people in Saskatchewan find themselves homeless every year. The participants in the forum included formerly homelessness individuals and people concerned with issues of homelessness and poverty. For more information read a CBC article about the forum.

A study of homeless youth in Saskatoon revealed that ten percent of them had contracted hepititus C. The transmission of hepititus C is associated with injection based drug use. The study showed it particularly connected to Ritilan injections. Activists struggle about what to do to tackle the problem. Read a CBC article about the outbreak.

A new report Don't We Count as People? Saskatchewan Social Welfare Policy And Women's Health for the Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence (PWHCE) is based on discussions with 43 women living on social assistance. "The women reported difficulties in finding safe, adequate, affordable housing. Some people reported problems with mice and rat infestation and the associated risk of hanta virus infection as well as poor quality housing with broken steps, unsafe windows and poor insulation... Women described difficulties in getting coverage for medications, special diets and medical needs, even when these were prescribed by health professionals." The Social Welfare Policy and Women's Health report's Executive Summary (in HTML) and the complete 58 page Don't We Count as People report (in PDF) are available online.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has released The 2002-2003 Alternative Budget of Choice for Saskatchewan: A Budget for Communities, by Communities.