Canadian Social Research Newsletter
March 4, 2007

Welcome to the weekly Canadian Social Research Newsletter,
a listing of the new links added to the Canadian Social Research Links website in the past week.

The e-mail version of this week's issue of the newsletter is going out to 1766 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. Federal Budget Information Options - March 19
2. PovNet site updated - March 2007
3. International Conference on the Rights of the Child (University of Ottawa) - March 15-17
4. International Women's Day - March 8
5. Canada’s New Government Funds Key Priorities for Canadians Through Targeted Tax Relief (Finance Canada) - March 1
6. The Rich and the Rest of Us: The Changing Face of Canada's Growing Gap (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - March 2007
7. Ontario - Housing policy win! (The Wellesley Institute) - February 28
8. Third Report Card on ENDING Homelessness in Ottawa, Jan-Dec 2006 (Ottawa Alliance to End Homelessness) - February 27
9. What's new from Statistics Canada:
--- Study: Impacts and consequences of criminal victimization, 2004 - March 1
--- Farm cash receipts, January to December 2006 - February 27
--- A portrait of seniors, 2006 - February 27
--- Employment Insurance, December 2006 - February 27
10. What's New from The Tyee (BC):
--- Budget 2007: Cracked Foundation? - February 21
--- Taylor's Do It Ourselves Budget: Unveiling 2007 numbers - February 21
--- Costco Rules, Wal-Mart Drools - February 20
11. Critics slam welfare bump (BC welfare) - The Georgia Straight (Vancouver) - March 1
12. Conference Final Report : Beyond the Street Conference - Youth Taking Action on Homelessness in Canada - January 2007
13. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - March 2

International Content

14. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
15. Welfare in America - Reports to Congress (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services):
--- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) : Seventh Annual Report to Congress - December 2006
--- Indicators of Welfare Dependence : Health and Human Services Annual Report to Congress, 2006 - July 2006
16. More U.S. welfare coverage:
--- Welfare or the Basic Income Guarantee? (U.S.) - March 1
--- Welfare State Growing Despite Overhauls - February 26
--- TANF Regs: A Big Step Backwards (and a Red Herring) - June 28/06
17. Times of change: France 1993-2005, (Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris) - February 2007
18. The case for an EU-wide measure of poverty (The Economic and Social Research Institute - Dublin) - July 2005
19. Policy Hub Bulletin: February 2007 (U.K.)
20. Internet Tutorials - Searching the Internet

Have a great week!

Federal Budget Information Options
The Federal Budget will be available Monday, March 19th at approximately 4:00 p.m. (DST).
Click the link above to see your choices for accessing the budget papers and presentations

- Go to the Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm

PovNet March 2007 site update!

Here's just *some* of the new content that you'll find on the PovNet website home page:

* BC Welfare Rates Increase (first increase in welfare rates in 12 years)
* Welfare Report for Solving Poverty (from the National Council of Welfare)
* Tories Given Failing Report Card on Child Care by Child-care coalition
* Nova Scotia Power Rates Go Up Again
* Toronto Proposes Panhandling Bylaw
* Is Child Poverty Up or Down?
* Poverty is a Medical Condition
* Arguments for Increasing the Minimum Wage
* Where's the Housing in the (BC 2007) Housing Budget?
* $1.5 million dollar tax cut.
* $250 million housing endowment fund to support innovative housing projects.
* Expansion of the Rental Assistance Program to help families earning under $28,000.
* A 30% increase in the number of year-round shelter beds.
* Converting 750 existing social housing units to supportive housing for seniors.
* $50 dollar increase in the shelter allowance for people on income assistance.
* Money for staffing transition houses on a 24-hour basis.
* Low Income Hotels Sold, Moratorium Denied
* Homeless in Alberta
* Toronto Marks 500th Homeless Death
* Two Photo Exhibits Expose Women's Poverty
* Microcredit not All Good for Women
* Inquiry Into the Death of Frank Paul
* Sudbury Legal Clinic takes Disability Benefits Case to Supreme Court of Canada
* People with Disabilities Should Keep Transit Pass (Ottawa)
* Refugee Free After Three Years in Sanctuary
* Nova Scotia Tenants' Rights Website
* Fact Sheet on Emergency Needs Assessment
* much more...

Issues Page - links to information on a wide range of subjects, including the following : Disability - Seniors - Workfare - Housing - Poorbashing - Women - International - Human Rights - Welfare - Lobbying - First Nations - Workers' Rights - Employment Insurance - Immigrants/Refugees - Homelessness

Links : large collection, organized under the following categories : Advocacy - Anti-poverty - Community Organizing/Activism - Disability - First Nations/Aboriginal - Government - Homelessness/Housing - Human Rights - Immigrants & Refugees - International - Seniors - Women - Workers' Rights - Youth

PovNet Learning Network
"PovNet BC will work with other provincial and national anti-poverty organizations to develop a national online network of advocates, identify new modes of developing online community space and facilitate online training and continuous learning for advocates, and facilitate the linking of local, regional and national groups to the network."

Regional Poverty News and Issues - follow the links for news and issues in each Canadian province and territory.

Find an Advocate - links to advocates in each Canadian province and territory.

Advocacy Resources and Links

Source:

PovNet
"PovNet is for advocates, people on welfare, and community groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work. It provides up-to-date information about welfare and housing laws and resources in British Columbia, Canada. PovNet links to current anti-poverty issues and also provides links to other anti-poverty organizations and resources in Canada and internationally."
- incl. links to : News - Issues - Advocacy - Find an Advocate - Regional - About us - Links

- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (C-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk3.htm

International Conference on the Rights of the Child
March 15-17, 2007
Human Rights Research and Education Centre
University of Ottawa
The International Conference on the Rights of the Child is intended to be an academic dialogue about the different issues regulated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, this conference attempts to become an 'open forum' to discuss the strengths and address the weaknesses of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Finally, this three day meeting is interested in exploring how Canada and other state-parties have implemented this legal text within their national legal systems, and whether those experiences have proven to be effective in promoting the best interests of the child.
- incl. links (down the left side of the page) to:
* About the Conference * Call for Papers [ended 12/06] * Conference Program * Registration * Speakers Bios and Abstracts * Accommodation and travel information * Information for speakers and panelists * Resources on Children's Rights * Contact us

Source:
Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC - University of Ottawa)

Also from HRREC:

- Go to the Children's Rights Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnrights.htm
- Go to the Conferences and Events Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm

International Women's Day (IWD)
March 8
"An amazing 1,617 websites currently linking to the IWD 2007 site ...
Over 268 IWD 2007 events currently listed from 28 different countries ..."
- incl. links to : Home - About IWD - 2007 IWD events - Organisations - IWD news - Link to IWD
- check the left margin of the page for links to organisations, governments, universities and media groups supporting IWD

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International Women's Day 2007 - March 8
Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls
- incl. links to : * Home * GA President's Message * Message of the Secretary-General * Background * Facts and Figures * Commemoration * UN Webcast * History of the day * Commission on the Status of Women * WomenWatch
* UN News Centre * Press Releases * Resources * Women's Day 2006 * UN Home
Source:
United Nations

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International Women's Day 2007:
Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls
- to read more about the International Women's Day, scroll to the bottom of the IWD 2007 page --- there you'll find links to: History of International Women's Day * "Engendering the Global Agenda: The Story of Women and the United Nations" * UN Cyberschool Bus page about International Women's Day
Source:
WomenWatch (U.N.)
United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality

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International Women's Day - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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International Women's Day
Ending Violence Against Women: Action for Real Results
March 8, 2007
2007 marks the 30th anniversary of International Women's Day. Established in 1977 by the United Nations, this important day provides an opportunity to celebrate the progress made to advance women's rights and to assess the challenges that remain. International Women's Day (IWD) encourages us to consider steps to bring about equality for women and girls in all their diversity and to celebrate the collective power of women past, present and future.

This year, Canadians will celebrate International Women's Week (IWW) from Sunday, March 4, to Saturday, March 10, with the highlight being International Women's Day on March 8. We encourage you to promote IWD/IWW by sharing this promotional notice with others, or even better, by organizing an activity in your own community or organization.
* Theme
* News Releases and Statements
* Products Available
* Ordering Products

Source:
Status of Women Canada

--------------------------------------

International Women’s Day
- incl. links to : United Nations and Women's Rights » Examples of Issues Faced by Women
» Canadian Connections: Canada and Women's Issues » Suggested Activities for International Women's Day
» Useful Links to Other Sites Concerning Women
Source:
United Nations Association in Canada

--------------------------------------

- Go to the Canadian Government Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/women.htm
- Go to the Links to International Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/womeninternat.htm

Canada’s New Government Funds Key Priorities for Canadians Through Targeted Tax Relief
March 1, 2007
The Department of Finance today released its annual Tax Expenditures and Evaluations report. The report provides details of the economic and social priorities that the Government of Canada funds through targeted federal tax credits and tax reductions. The revenue estimates and projections in the report reflect the substantial tax relief proposed in the Tax Fairness Plan and announced in Budget 2006. In the last year, this amounts to 29 new tax initiatives

Related document:

Tax Expenditures and Evaluations 2006
HTML version
PDF version (719K, 75 pages)

Source:
Department of Finance Canada

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Agriculture to Finance) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk.htm

Canada’s growing gap at new 30-year high
Majority of families working harder, less payoff
Press Release
March 1, 2007
TORONTO – Canadian families are putting in more work time, yet most – 80% of them – are getting a smaller share of Canada’s growing economy, says a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).The study finds Canada’s income gap between the rich and poor is growing, largely because the lion's share of Canada’s economic growth is going to the richest 10% of families. It’s not going to the majority, the 80% of families earning under a $100,000.

The Rich and the Rest of Us:
The Changing Face of Canada's Growing Gap - PDF File, 613K, 54 pages)
By Armine Yalnizyan
March 2007

Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (I) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research.htm

A housing policy win - more homes on the way!
February 28, 2007
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on Tuesday that the provincial government is going to start the flow of $392.5 million in federal funding to build new affordable homes in Ontario. Sounds pretty simple - all the province is required to do is get out of the way and let the federal money flow to housing developers across the province
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

Related link:

Fourteen cents a day won’t build many homes (PDF file - 150K, 6 pages)
February 2007
By Michael Shapcott
The Ontario government spends about 14 cents per person per day on affordable housing — less than half the amount spent in 2000 — even though the province’s population and its housing needs continue to grow significantly. The low level of spending means the government has been able to fund only a fraction of the new homes it promised in 2003. And those targets from 2003 were already modest, when set against the desperate province-wide need for affordable homes.
Source:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Ontario Office

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm

Experiencing Homelessness
Third Report Card on ENDING Homelessness in Ottawa, Jan-Dec 2006 (PDF file - 3.2MB, 16 pages)
"(...)On February 27, 2007, the Alliance to End Homelessness released the third annual Report Card on Ending Homelessness in Ottawa and for the first time, provided grades in four areas: housing, income, homelessness and length of shelter stay. This year’s Report Card also includes a Special Report on Homelessness & Health, another risk factor for homelessness."

Source:
Alliance to End Homelessness
NOTE: the home page of the Alliance website offers highlights from the third report on homelessness in Ottawa

Related links:

Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services - University of Ottawa

The politics of homelessness
March 01, 2007
An untreated schizophrenic is in a different situation from that of a new refugee who is able to work but lacks marketable skills. Both might have difficulty keeping a roof over their heads, but to lump them together under the rubric "homeless," as many anti-poverty advocates do, only confuses matters. Ottawa's Alliance to End Homelessness makes this mistake in its latest "report card" on the situation in Ottawa. (...) In Ottawa, the number of supportive-housing units (where help is available for people managing mental illnesses, for instance) has risen sharply, from 500 two years ago to 806 now. But so has the number of names on the waiting list -- from 2,000 to 2,630.
Source:
Ottawa Citizen

Related Web/News/Blog links:

Google Search Results Links - always current results!
Using the following search terms (without the quote marks):
"homelessness report card, 2006, Ottawa"
Web search results page
News search results page
Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (A-C) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk2.htm

What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:

March 1, 2007
Study: Impacts and consequences of criminal victimization, 2004
In 2004, one-quarter of all violent victimization incidents resulted in an injury to the victim, according to a new study that examines various impacts and consequences of criminal victimization. The report, based on data from the General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization, looks not only at the physical consequences of violent victimization, but also the financial loss of household or property-related incidents and the psychological and emotional after-effects of incidents, both violent and non-violent.

February 27, 2007
Farm cash receipts, January to December 2006
Gross market receipts for Canadian farmers rose for a third year in a row in 2006. However, they remained slightly below pre-BSE levels. Encouraging gains in crop revenues were dampened by tumbling hog receipts.

February 27, 2007
Employment Insurance, December 2006
An estimated 485,340 Canadians (seasonally adjusted) received regular Employment Insurance benefits in December, up 0.2% from November but down 1.6% from the same period of 2005.

February 27, 2007
A portrait of seniors, 2006
With millions of baby boomers knocking on the door, Canada's seniors are poised to become an even more heterogeneous crowd than they are today, according to a new statistical profile of people 65 years and over.

Related link:

A Portrait of Seniors in Canada
February 2007
By Martin Turcotte and Grant Schellenberg
HTML version - Introduction and links (in the left margin) to: Findings - Tables - Charts - More information - PDF version
PDF version (1.2MB, 301 pages)
"...the goal of this report is to draw an up-to-date portrait of the general well-being of seniors, in absolute terms, in comparison with previous cohorts of seniors and in comparison with persons of younger ages."

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm
- Go to the Seniors (Social Research) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/seniors.htm

What's New from The Tyee (BC alternative media):

Budget 2007: Cracked Foundation?
Critics take crowbars to 'Building a Housing Legacy'
By David Beers
February 21, 2007
In a $3.2 billion surplus year, the Campbell government cut financial assistance to college students and is asking us to wait until next year to find out what it will pay to achieve the radical cuts to greenhouse emissions promised in last week's throne speech. But everyone making up to $100,000 got a 10 per cent tax cut. And corporations saw another $100 million lopped off their taxes, too.

[BC Finance Minister] Taylor's Do It Ourselves Budget:
Unveiling 2007 numbers
After tax cuts, it's far less than meets the eye.
By Will McMartin
February 21, 2007

Also from The Tyee:

Costco Rules, Wal-Mart Drools
Bucking a big-box myth, a student finds remarkable variations in how two giants do business
By Angela Wilson
February 20, 2007
Big-box business has a bad name. As one-stop shopping becomes the new retail model, specialty stores can no longer compete with multi-national corporations. With employee and growth policies that are fiercely criticized by activist groups, corporations like Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire are setting industry standards. However, emerging from the dismal landscape of the retail industry is an established and innovative competitor. Hidden behind skyrocketing stacks of bulk merchandise in warehouses across North America, Costco Corporation has been softly trying to introduce new industry standards since 1983.
[HINT: scroll to the bottom of the article to the readers' comments section for some interesting views by readers of The Tyee. ]

- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (C-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk3.htm
- Go to the Banks and Business Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bookmrk3.htm

Critics slam welfare bump
By Carlito Pablo
March 1, 2007
Finance Minister Carole Tay­lor claims that the new budget ensures that all British Columbians share in the benefits of the province's thriving economy. Not by any stretch, counters the director of UBC's school of social work and family studies. Prof. Graham Riches told the Georgia Straight that there is something fundamentally flawed in the way the B.C. Liberal government carved the budget. “It's not a policy of redistribution,” he said. “It will prove inadequate.” Riches noted that the rich and middle class received $1.5 billion in tax cuts so that, according to the government, they'll have more money “to meet their housing challenges and help them with the high cost of housing in B.C.”. This amount constitutes three-quarters of the four-year $2 billion package, which the Liberals trumpeted as a housing legacy.
Source:
The Georgia Straight - Vancouver

- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (C-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk3.htm

Beyond the Street Conference:
Youth Taking Action on Homelessness in Canada
September 26-29, 2006
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Beyond the Street: Youth & Communities Taking Action on Homelessness was Canada ’s first national conference focusing on youth and homelessness. The conference welcomed close to 250 delegates from all over the country and its activities highlighted existing challenges and emerging trends in youth homelessness and showcased successful Canadian efforts to address them By harnessing the creative energy and ideas of youth, homelessness organizations, and their partners, Beyond the Street brought together key stakeholders to help build the foundation for ongoing national, regional, and local action to respond to homelessness in Canada.

Final report
January 2007
PDF version, no appendices(PDF file - 770K, 29 pages)
PDF version with appendices (PDF File - 7.8MB, 94 pages)

Conference Program (PDF file - 549K, 14 pages)

- Go to the Conferences and Events Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm

What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto

The Childcare Resource and Research Unit offers a free weekly "e-mail news notifier" service.
The content below is from this past Friday's issue of CRRU Recent Postings.

For information on the CRRU e-mail notifier, including instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://www.childcarecanada.org

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
RECENT POSTINGS AVAILABLE ON THE
CHILDCARE RESOURCE AND RESEARCH UNIT'S WEBSITE
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2-Mar-07

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What's new
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WE CAN DO BETTER: NACCRRA'S RANKING OF STATE CHILD CARE CENTER STANDARDS AND OVERSIGHT
Report from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (US) ranks states on standards and regulations; provides recommendations for improvement.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97354

EVIDENCE ON THE CHILD CARE MARKET
Report for the Government of Australia claims that "contrary to popular perceptions, there is not an emerging crisis in the [child care] sector."
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97357

THE RICH AND THE REST OF US: THE CHANGING FACE OF CANADA'S GROWING GAP
Report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives "focuses on the fortunes of Canadian families raising children under the age of 18."
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97356

--------------------------------------------------
Child care in the news
--------------------------------------------------

Study: States lax in child care regulation [US]
CBS News, 1 Mar 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97348

CCRRs are valuable, state care providers [CA-BC]
Mission Record, 1 Mar 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97351

Income splitting 'highly unlikely' in next budget [CA]
Globe and Mail, 28 Feb 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97353

Interpreting the stats is anything but child's play [AU]
The Age, 17 Feb 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=97350

Related Links:

Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications
ISSUE files - theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info

Source:
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto

- Go to the Non-Governmental Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd2.htm

Poverty Dispatch - U.S.
- links to news items from the American press about poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
NOTE: this is a link to the current issue --- its content changes twice a week.

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 1 (2006) when the Dispatch acquired its own web page and archive.

Poverty Dispatch Digest Archive - weekly digest of dispatches from August 2005 to May 2006
For a few years prior to the creation of this new web page for the Dispatch, I was compiling a weekly digest of the e-mails and redistributing the digest to my mailing list with IRP's permission.
This is my own archive of weekly issues of the digest back to August 2005, and most of them have 50+ links per issue. I'll be deleting this archive from my site gradually, as the links to older articles expire.

Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
[ University of Wisconsin-Madison ]

- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

Welfare in America - Reports to Congress
Source:
Administration for Children and Families
[ Department of Health and Human Services ]

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) :
Seventh Annual Report to Congress
December 2006
[incl. links to all chapters and appendices in the report in Word and PDF format]
This report describes the characteristics and financial circumstances of TANF recipients and presents information regarding TANF caseloads and expenditures, work participation and earnings, State High Performance Bonus awards, child support collections, two-parent family formation and maintenance activities, out-of-wedlock births, child poverty, characteristics and financial circumstances of TANF recipients, Tribal TANF and specific Provisions of State Programs.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) :
Seventh Annual Report to Congress
December 2006
Executive Summary (PDF file - 32K, 9 pages)
Complete report without Appendix (PDF file - 6.7MB, 220 pages)
Appendix (PDF file - 2MB, 216 pages)

Current and Earlier
Annual Reports to Congress (back to 1999)

- includes detailed information and tables on the following aspects of welfare for able-bodied families with children* in America :
Caseload - Expenditures and Balances - Work Participation Rates - Work and Earnings - High Performance Bonus - Child Support Collections - Formation and Maintenance of Married Two-Parent Families - Out-of-Wedlock Births - Child Poverty and TANF - Characteristics and Financial Circumstances of TANF Recipients - Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Native Employment Works - Specific Provisions of State Programs - TANF Research and Evaluation - State Profiles - Appendix Cross Reference (between 6th and 5th report)

-----------------------------------------------
* NOTE: the expression "welfare for able-bodied families with children" in the above description is a caveat for social researchers who might be tempted to compare U.S. state welfare programs under TANF and the Canadian welfare system as if they were equal.
They are not.
In the U.S., people with disabilities must apply for assistance from the federal Social Security Disability program. In Canada, we have the contribution-based Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit, but provincial-territorial welfare programs also provide needs-tested assistance to people with disabilities - who currently make up about 35-40% of the national welfare caseload. The "with children" part of the expression refers to the fact that in the U.S., there is not one able-bodied single childless adult in receipt of state assistance under TANF. In Canada, childless single people account for around 50% of the total welfare caseload across the country --- but many of those singles are people with disabilities. There are other aspects of the two countries' programs of last resort that differ from one another. If you want more information on the two systems, this TANF report and the links below to related info will give you more detailed info on the American welfare system; for Canadian welfare info, try the Canadian Social Research Links Welfare and Welfare Reforms in Canada page as a starting point - or Social Assistance in Canada, 1994 (an oldie moldie look at welfare in Canada in 1994 that offers some insights into how welfare works today in Canada).

In 2003, child-only cases represented 38.6 percent of the total TANF caseload. Of these child-only cases, over half were children living with a caretaker relative with sufficient income not to receive assistance, one-fifth were families with a disabled parent receiving Supplemental Security Income, and a similar number were families in which the parent was ineligible for TANF because of his or her citizenship status. In the Canadian welfare system, "child-only" cases make up a very small proportion of the total welfare caseload --- a child-only case exists where a child at risk is taken into custody by the government and placed with an informal caregiver, usually a relative and usually on a temporary basis.

Just a few more reasons not to compare U.S. and Canadian welfare systems without situating each within its social policy context...
-----------------------------------------------

Related links:

Complementary report from Human Services Policy (also part of the Dept. of Health and Human Services):

Indicators of Welfare Dependence
Health and Human Services Annual Report to Congress, 2006
July 2006
- Indicators of Dependence include : Degree of Dependence - Receipt of Means-Tested Assistance and Labor Force Attachment - Rates of Receipt of Means-Tested Assistance - Rates of Participation in Means-Tested Assistance Programs - Multiple Program Receipt - Dependence Transitions - Dependence Spell Duration - Welfare Spell Duration with No Labor Force Attachment - Long-Term Receipt - Events Associated with the Beginning and Ending of Program Spells
- includes longitudinal and current caseload and expenditure data for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Food Stamp Program and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In addition, you'll find dozens of tables and charts showing predictors and risk factors associated with welfare receipt, such as : Poverty Rates - Deep Poverty Rates - Experimental Poverty Measures - Poverty Spells - Child Support - Food Insecurity - Lack of Health Insurance - Labor Force Attachment - Earnings of Low-Skilled Workers - Educational Attainment - High School Dropout Rates - Adult Alcohol and Substance Abuse - Adult and Child Disability Births to Unmarried Women/Teens - more...

Executive Summary of Indicators of Welfare Dependence

- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm

On Welfare and the Alternatives (U.S.)
Welfare reform was a good idea in theory but hasn't quite worked out the way NEWT (Gingrich) and Bill Clinton thought it would.
March 1, 2007
"(...)if you want to decrease the size of government while making people self-sufficient and in doing so leaving the family unit intact, there is a rather simple solution that has been batted around since the Nixon administration. The Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is a government ensured guarantee that no one's income will fall below the level necessary to meet their most basic needs for any reason. As Bertrand Russell put it in 1918, "A certain small income, sufficient for necessities, should be secured for all, whether they work or not, and that a larger income should be given to those who are willing to engage in some work which the community recognizes as useful. On this basis we may build further." Thus, with BIG no one is destitute but everyone has the positive incentive to work. BIG is an efficient, effective, and equitable solution to poverty that promotes individual freedom and leaves the beneficial aspects of a market economy in place. (...) I believe in dismantling the entire welfare system, Medicaid/care included and replacing it with the above BIG. This is the conservative solution without making judgments or convoluting it with man-managed bureaucracies as this would be the domain of the US Treasury department.
Source:
411mania.com ("pop-culture since '96")

What is the Basic Income Guarantee?
[For a discussion of BIG as a solution to poverty see "An Efficiency Argument for the Basic Income Guarantee"]
[For cost estimates of BIG See Garfinkel, Huang, and Naidich (2002) or Clark (2002)]
[For a History of USBIG 1999 to 2004, see The first five years of the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network]
[For a discussion of the diversity of BIG proposals see, "The Many Faces of Universal Basic Income." (Reprinted by permission from the Political Quarterly 75 (3), 2004, pp. 266-274.0)]
Source:
U.S. Basic Income Guarantee (USBIG) Network

- Go to the Guaranteed Annual Income Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/gai.htm

----------------------------------------

From MyWay (U.S. News portal):

[U.S.] Welfare State Growing Despite Overhauls
February 26, 2007
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
WASHINGTON (AP) - The welfare state is bigger than ever despite a decade of policies designed to wean poor people from public aid. The number of families receiving cash benefits from welfare has plummeted since the government imposed time limits on the payments a decade ago. But other programs for the poor, including Medicaid, food stamps and disability benefits, are bursting with new enrollees. (...) Critics of the welfare overhaul say the numbers offer fresh evidence that few former recipients have become self-sufficient, even though millions have moved from welfare to work. They say the vast majority have been forced into low-paying jobs without benefits and few opportunities to advance. (...) In 2005, about 5.1 million people received monthly welfare payments from TANF and similar state programs, a 60 percent drop from a decade before. But other government programs grew, offsetting the declines. About 44 million people - nearly one in six in the country - relied on government services for the poor in 2003, according to the most recent statistics compiled by the Census Bureau. That compares with about 39 million in 1996. Also, the number of people getting government aid continues to increase, according to more recent enrollment figures from individual programs. Medicaid rolls alone topped 45 million people in 2005, pushed up in part by rising health care costs and fewer employers offering benefits. Nearly 26 million people a month received food stamps that year. Cash welfare recipients, by comparison, peaked at 14.2 million people in 1994.

Related links:

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program - Fact Sheet - brief summary of TANF
TANF Seventh Annual Report to Congress (December 2006) - data about welfare caseloads, family employment and earnings, marriage and two-parent families, out-of-wedlock births, and State policy choices
TANF statute:
H.R. 3734 - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
TANF final regulations:
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF); Final Rule
Policy Q's and A's
Policy documents - incl. policy announcements, program instructions and information memoranda
Medicaid
Food stamp program
Supplemental Security Income

----

See also:

June 28, 2006
TANF Regs: A Big Step Backwards (and a Red Herring)
"(...) the regulations, like the new law passed last December, will put more control over the nation’s welfare programs in the unsteady hands of the federal government and drastically restrict the flexibility that state legislatures attained when TANF first became law in 1996."
Source:
The Thicket at State Legislatures
A Bipartisan Blog by and for Legislative Junkies

- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

Times of change: France 1993-2005 (PDF file - 1.2MB, 231 pages)
Published November 2006, posted February 2007
"This report is the most comprehensive synthesis of analyses of the changes in labour market, incomes and social inequalities in France. French data are systematically compared with data of other countries of the E U."
NOTE: the French version of this report includes Excel versions of all tables and graphics, along with hyperlinks to many of the references at the end of the report. These features are not available in the English version of the report.

Source:
Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion (CERC) - Paris
CERC was created by a Council of State decree in April 2000. Its mission is "to contribute to the knowledge on income, social inequalities and links between employment, income and social cohesion. It is also up to the Cerc to draw up appraisals about social inequalities and redistribution mechanisms as well as to draw the government's attention and the public opinion to desirable changes and evolutions." (Missions)

TIP: If you haven't visited the CERC website yet and you'd like a good flavour of what you'll find there, I'd highly recommend that you peruse a few recent issues of the Bulletin (which is available free by subscription), then select one of the Topics (Poverty - Social minima - In-work benefits - Minimum wage - Unemployment and return to work ). On the next page, click the links in the right hand margin to access the reports. Most of the reports are in French, but there are thousands of titles (1500 under Poverty alone), and you'll find enough in English to make it worth a visit...
SUB-TIP: many of the studies that appear in the CERC bulletin include Canada and the U.S. in their international comparisons of social policies and social programs - very interesting analysis!

--------------------

La France en transition 1993-2005 (fichier PDF - 3,2Mo., 242 pages)
"Ce rapport est la synthèse la plus complète à ce jour des analyses de l’évolution de l’emploi, des revenus et des inégalités sociales observées en France qui sont systématiquement comparées à celles observées dans les différents ays de l’Union européenne."
La consultation du rapport permet d'accéder :
- en format excel, aux tableaux et graphiques, à leurs sources ainsi qu'à quelques compléments ;
- aux textes cités en bibliographie.

Si vous n'avez pas encore visité le site Web du CERC et vous aimeriez voir ce que vous y trouverez, je vous recommanderais d'examiner quelques numéros du bulletin (offert gratuitement par abonnement) et ensuite d'explorer un des thèmes (La pauvreté - Les minima sociaux - Les compléments de revenus d'activité - Le salaire minimum - Le chômage et retour à l'emploi). À noter que plusieurs des études qui figurent dans le bulletin CERC incluent le Canada dans leurs comparaisons internationales...

Source:
Conseil de l'Emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale (CERC) - Paris

- Go to the Government Social Research Links in Other Countries page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internat.htm

The case for an EU-wide measure of poverty (PDF file - 240K, 25 pages)
July 2005
T. Fahey, Dublin
This paper is based on work carried out for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
under its research programme, Monitoring Quality of Life in Europe.

Source:
The Economic and Social Research Institute (Dublin)

- Go to the Poverty Measures - International Resources page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty2.htm

Policy Hub Bulletin: February 2007
The GSR Bulletin contains the latest GSR news, updates on continuing professional development, research funding, research methods, and research outputs, and a website of the month feature
Click the link above to access any of the content appearing in the table of contents below.

- Government response to Scientific advice, risk and evidence-based policy
- Electoral participation of South Asian communities - JRF report
- Equality for disabled people - ODI consultation
- Childhood in industrialised countries - UNICEF report
- Politicisation of research - Guardian article
- Young people and drugs - HO reports
- Climate change 2007: physical science - IPCC report
- 15 year olds in transition - BSL report
- Australian welfare reform - BSL report
- Policy for middle childhood - CPRN presentation
- Restorative Justice: the evidence - Smith Institute
- Is the Law Working? - Law Commission forum
- Mental health interventions - NICE report
- Prescribed medicines and health outcomes - ANZHP paper
- Department for Transport annual report - Select Committee report
- Local authority youth services 2005/06 - Ofsted Report
- Hard to reach - ISR report
- more...

Source:
Policy Hub (U. K.)
"... a web-site developed by the Government Social Research Unit, which aims to improve the way public policy is shaped and delivered."
[ Government Social Research ]
[ HM Treasury website ]

For all with an interest in Government Social Research, News items will continue to be added to the homepage at http://www.gsr.gov.uk/
and to the Research news page at http://www.gsr.gov.uk/new_research/index.asp

- Go to the Government Social Research Links in Other Countries page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internat.htm

On the Reference Links page of Canadian Social Research Links, you'll find the following links to Internet tutorials that I highly recommend to anyone from the "newbie" to the seasoned veteran researcher - anyone who wants to improve their ability to find things online. I found these pages very helpful in my own Internet learning curve, and I'm pleased to see that they've recently acquired their own domain name ("www.internettutorials.net") and that their tutorials are all being kept up to date - all of the guides below have been updated within the past few months. (The date of the latest revision appears at the bottom of each tutorial.)

From the University at Albany Library's Internet Tutorials:

Over a dozen current guides and other resources in all - here are just a few:
[click the link above to access the complete list]
- all of the reports below have been updated within the last few months, and a few within the past month.
A Basic Guide to the Internet
Conducting Research on the Internet
Checklist of Internet Research Tips
How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory
Second Generation Searching on the Web - review of newer search engine services that make use of technology that organizes search results by concept, site, domain, popularity and linking.
Alphabetical list of Search Engines
Internet Subject Directories - extensive reviewed list of academic, professional and commercial directories & portals, including: The Best Information on the Net (BIOTN) - BUBL Link - INFOMINE - The Internet Public Library - Intute - Librarians' Index to the Internet - The Scout Report Archives - Scout Select Bookmarks - Subject Guides A to Z - The WWW Virtual Library - highly respected guides to many disciplines sponsored by the W3 Consortium - About - Google Web Directory - JoeAnt - JumpCity - LookSmart - Open Directory Project - WebBrain - Yahoo! Directory
Searching the Internet: Recommended Sites and Search Techniques - An extensive tutorial on the use of subject directories, search engine services, and the "deep Web." This tutorial covers the Yahoo Directory, BUBL Link, Brainboost, Don Busca and Google

HINT: after you've read and committed to memory all of the above tutorials, you can keep up to date by checking the What's New page of the tutorials site from time to time...

Source:
SUNY University at Albany

- Go to the Reference Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/reference.htm

Disclaimer/Privacy Statement

Both Canadian Social Research Links (the site) and this Canadian Social Research Newsletter belong solely to me, Gilles Séguin.

I am solely accountable for the choice of links presented therein and for the occasional editorial comment - it's my time, my home computer, my experience, my biases, my Rogers Internet account and my web hosting service.

I administer the mailing list and distribute the weekly newsletter using software on the web server of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Thanks, CUPE!

If you wish to subscribe to the e-mail version of newsletter, go to the Canadian Social Research Newsletter Online Subscription page:
http://lists.cupe.ca/mailman/listinfo/csrl-news

You can unsubscribe by going to the same page or by sending me an e-mail message [ gilseg@rogers.com ]

------------------------

The e-mail version of this newsletter is available only in plain text (no graphics, no hyperlinks, no fancy bolding or italics, etc.) to avoid security problems with government departments, universities and other networks with firewalls. The text-only version is also friendlier for people using older or lower-end technology.

Privacy Policy:
The Canadian Social Research Newsletter mailing list is not used for any purpose except to distribute each weekly issue.
I promise not share any information on this list, nor to send you any junk mail.

Links presented in the Canadian Social Research Newsletter point to different views about social policy and social programs.
There are some that I don't agree with, so don't get on my case, eh...

To access earlier online HTML issues of the Canadian Social Research Newsletter, go to the Newsletter page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/news.htm

Please feel free to distribute this newsletter as widely as you wish, but please remember to mention Canadian Social Research Links when you do.

Cheers!
Gilles

E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com

*****************************

Newfoundland Medical Dictionary

*****************************

Artery.......................... The study of paintings

Bacteria........................ Back door to cafeteria

Barium......................... What doctors do when patients die

Benign.......................... What you be, after you be eight

Caesarean Section........ A neighbourhood in Rome

Catscan........................ Searching for Kitty

Cauterize...................... Made eye contact with her

Colic............................ A sheep dog

Coma.......................... A punctuation mark

Dilate........................... To live long

Enema......................... Not a friend

Fester......................... Quicker than someone else

Fibula......................... A small lie

Impotent..................... Distinguished, well known

Labour Pain................ Getting hurt at work

Medical Staff.............. A Doctor's cane

Morbid....................... A higher offer

Nitrates....................... Cheaper than day rates

Node.......................... I knew it

Outpatient.................. A person who has fainted

Pelvis......................... Second cousin to Elvis

Post Operative........... A letter carrier

Recovery Room......... Place to do upholstery

Rectum...................... Nearly killed him

Secretion................... Hiding something

Seizure....................... Roman emperor

Tablet........................ A small table

Terminal Illness.......... Getting sick at the airport

Tumor..................... One plus one more

Urine......................... Opposite of you're out

Source:
This was sent to me by a relative of a former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Tanx, John, me Bye!

You'll also find it here:
http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=79802

And here's link to a legit Newfoundland Dictionary:
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/dictionary/default.html
Pop quiz on Monday!