Canadian Social Research Newsletter
October 12, 2008

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 1941 subscribers.

Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian content

1. 2008 Federal Election Resources (Canadian Social Research Links)
2. Canada Pension Plan Loss at $25 Billion (Strategic Thoughts, David Schreck) - October 8
3. The Economic Well-being of Children in Canada, the United States and Mexico (Canadian Council on Social Development) - September 2008
4. Brigit's Notes - September/October 2008 (Canadian Women's Health Network)
5. What's New in The Daily (Statistics Canada):
--- Labour Force Survey, September 2008 - October 10
--- University tuition fees, 2008/2009 - October 9
--- Comparing low income of Canada's regions: A stochastic dominance approach - October 9
--- Family violence: Spousal violence in Canada, 2006 - October 9
6. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - October 8

International content

7. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
8. Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin (Los Angeles Times) - September 4
9. U.S. - Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Paper Abstracts - September 2008
--- What Does It Mean to Be Poor in a Rich Society? (Robert Haveman)
--- Poverty Politics and Policy (Mary Jo Bane)
--- Trends in Income Support (John Karl Scholz et al.)
--- Welfare Reform: The U.S. Experience (Robert Moffitt)
--- Poverty Levels and Trends in Comparative Perspective (Daniel R. Meyer and Geoffrey L. Wallace)
10. What Do the Recently-Released U.S. Poverty Numbers Tell Us? (Brookings Institution) - September 25
11. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
12. CRINMAIL (October 2008) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Have a great week!

Gilles Séguin
Canadian Social Research Links
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net

E-mail:
gilseg@rogers.com

1. 2008 Federal Election Resources
(Canadian Social Research Links)

New links added in the past week to the
Canadian Social Research Links
2008 Federal Election Links page:

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Why vote on October 14?
Voting connects us to one another as citizens. By taking part in an election and by expressing our point of view, we help our democracy work. By agreeing or disagreeing with our leaders we show that the political system can accept differing points of view and can resolve them.

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Daily Digest for October 11, 2008
- 150+ links to articles concerning the 2008 federal election in the Canadian media from coast to coast.

Source:
The Daily Digest - Information and Opinion from St. John's to Victoria
- includes links to daily digests back to January 2006

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Bringing Women's Voices and Concerns to the National Table
Federal Election 2008
CWHN is highlighting resources created by other non-governmental organizations for this federal election. These cover important issues, specifically on questions dealing with healthcare and women's equality. In this section, you will find answers from politicians, calls to action, questions to ask the candidates and analysis of the parties' platforms

Source:
Canadian Women's Health Network

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CUPE's election report card:
CUPE rates the platforms of the parties
October 10
Comparison of party platforms in the following areas :
* Privatization * Health care * Child Care * Economy * Environment *
Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees

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Women's List - Federal Election 2008
September 2008

Issues of importance to Canadian women’s equality in the 2008 federal election:
* Deliver on the constitutional promise of equality
* Ensure equal rights for Aboriginal women
* Fund quality early childhood care & education
* Ensure a livable income
* Commit to affordable housing
* Eliminate violence against women
* Ensure access to justice
* Improve maternity & parental benefits
* Act for women’s health
* Increase female political representation

Click the Women's List link for a collection of over 120 individual resources related to the above list of issues.
[Some of this info is specific to NB]
NOTE: Never mind the federal election --- I highly recommend this resource as a primer on women's issues in Canada!
Source:
New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women

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A guide to the federal parties' election promises for families
October 9, 2008
*List of campaign promises pertaining to families by all major parties
Source:
The Ottawa Citizen

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thestar.com party game
October 8, 2008
Which party best represents your views in the 2008 federal election? Answer these questions to compare your opinion against the parties'' policies on eight important issues. After you've completed the short questionnaire (one question per issue, multiple choice answer), you'll see which party is your best overall match
- questions include * Afghanistan * Cities * Poverty * Health Care * Child Care * Fiscal Imbalance * The Economy * The Environment
Source:
2008 Federal Election Page (Toronto Star)

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The Conservative Party of Canada Party Platform (October 7)

Protecting Canadian families amid global economic uncertainty
Conservatives implementing a proven plan; Liberals still trying to find one
News Release
October 07, 2008
Toronto – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today laid out the time-tested and true path his Conservative Government has charted consistently over the past two and a half years to prepare and protect Canadian families and the economy amid increasing global economic uncertainty.
- includes a backgrounder with Tory platform highlights

The True North Strong and Free:
Stephen Harper's Plan for Canadians (PDF - 2.6MB, 44 pages)
NOTE: there's no direct link to the Tory platform on their website because the link itself is a javascript popup window.
There are many compelling security-related reasons NOT to use javascript or popup windows when you want to spread your message on the Internet. And I think the Tories know very well that both javascript and popup windows will reduce the number of visitors who will actually read their platform. Forcing visitors to flail around the site to even find the link to the PDF file is also funny but not funny-ha-ha. You can go through the motions to find the file on the Tory website, or you can access a copy of it that I've posted to my own site for information and to get around the javascript/popups issue.]

View a copy of the PDF file (PDF - 2.6MB, 44 pages)
- this copy is posted to my web hosting server for anyone who doesn't have javascript or popups enabled.

To view the Tory party platform
PDF file on the Conservative Party's website:
1. Click the link below.
2. On the next page that opens, click the secret link (the cover page of the party platform) to view the 44-page PDF file.
NOTE: you must have both javascript and popups enabled to view the PDF file on the Tory website.

A plan for the economy vs proposals for financial disaster
October 07, 2008
- incl. a link to the Tory platform in PDF format

Source:
Conservative Party of Canada

Related Links:

Subscribe to the CRRU email announcements list
Sign up to receive email notices of updates and new postings on the CRRU website which will inform you of policy developments in early childhood care and education, new research and resources for policy, newly released CRRU publications, and upcoming events of interest to the child care and broader community.

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)

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

7. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
(Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Poverty Dispatch (U.S). ===> the content of this link changes twice a week
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches twice a week. Each issue of the dispatch provides links to U.S. web-based news items dealing with topics such as poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media.

October 9, 2008
* Privatization of Social Services - Indiana, Texas
* Increasing Need for Social Services - New Jersey, California
* State Budget Cuts and Social Services - California
* Study: Income and Children's Health
* Infant Mortality and Mothers' Health - Maryland
* Children's Health Insurance Plan - South Carolina
* State Medicaid Programs and Long-term Care
* Head Start Program
* Child Welfare and Foster Care - Nebraska, Oregon, Michigan
* Food Stamp Program - California
* States and Unemployment Benefits
* Section 8 Housing Subsidies and Waiting Lists - New Jersey

October 6, 2008
* Homelessness and Housing
* Food Stamp Program Participation
* State Medicaid Programs
* Poverty in U.S. Cities - Survey of Mayors
* Academic Achievement Gap - Washington, D.C.
* Enrollment at Two-year Colleges - Michigan
* The Economy and State Budgets
* Underemployment and Unemployment
* States and Drug-testing Policies for Aid Recipients
* Free Drug Samples and Low-income Children
* Emergency Room Use by the Insured - Massachusetts
* Felons and Restoration of Voting Rights - Tennessee

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 2006

Search Poverty Dispatches

If you wish to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail,
please send a request to rsnell@ssc.wisc.edu

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

8. Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin - September 4
(Los Angeles Times)

Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin
Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. (...) But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. (...) Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton.
She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
Source:
Los Angeles Times

Comment:
You won't find many online resources relating to the 2008 U.S. presidential election on the Canadian Social Research Links website.
[ Not that I consider it irrelevant, but I have to budget my time, and I get to make the decisions here. Here are some resources for U.S. election junkies (it's a Google search results page).]
But I just had to share this article with you --- Gloria Steinem nails it. Now I know why the theme song from Leave it to Beaver pops into my head every time I think of "Schlafly" Palin in the White House...

- Go to the 2008 Federal Election and General Political Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/politics_2008_fed_election.htm

9. U.S. - Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Paper Abstracts - September 2008
--- What Does It Mean to Be Poor in a Rich Society? (Robert Haveman)
--- Poverty Politics and Policy (Mary Jo Bane)
--- Trends in Income Support (John Karl Scholz et al.)
--- Welfare Reform: The U.S. Experience (Robert Moffitt)
--- Poverty Levels and Trends in Comparative Perspective (Daniel R. Meyer and Geoffrey L. Wallace)

Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP Discussion Paper Abstracts - 2008
Links to 13 papers presented at the Changing Poverty Conference (May 29–30, 2008, University of Wisconsin–Madison).
"(...) a small working conference to discuss a new set of commissioned papers that consider trends and determinants of poverty and inequality, the evolution of poverty-related policy, and the consequences of poverty for families and children."
[ NOTE : All papers have since been updated to September 2008.]

Selected papers:
(click the link above to see the whole list)

What Does It Mean to Be Poor in a Rich Society? (PDF - 192K, 37 pages)
September 2008
By Robert Haveman
Department of Economics and Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Excerpt from the abstract:
In this paper, the author attempts to broaden the discussion of poverty and poverty measurement. He first discusses the broad question of “what is poverty?” and describes various poverty concepts that have been proposed. He then describes the official U.S. poverty measure, highlights its main characteristics, and notes some of the criticisms directed toward it. Finally, he examines broader conceptions of poverty and deprivation. The paper ends with a modest proposal for the development of a broader measure of poverty and social exclusion for the United States.

Poverty Politics and Policy (PDF - 99K, 28 pages)
September 2008
By Mary Jo Bane
Harvard University
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Excerpt from the abstract:
Much has happened in politics and policy around poverty and welfare after and to some extent because of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign agenda. [Remember that catchy slogan"Ending welfare as we know it!"?- Gilles] In this paper, the author addresses three questions: What changed in policy, practice and the lives of the poor? What changed, if anything, in public opinion and the political context around poverty and welfare? What are the prospects and the best political strategies for improvement in the lives of the poor going forward from 2008?

Trends in Income Support (PDF - 201K, 53 pages)
September 2008
By John Karl Scholz, Robert Moffitt, and Benjamin Cowan
Excerpt from the abstract:
Antipoverty programs are designed to mitigate the most pernicious aspects of market-based economic outcomes—unemployment, disability, low earnings, and other material hardship. These programs compose society’s “safety net” and each has different eligibility standards and benefit formulas. (...) The authors have three primary goals in this paper. First, they provide updated information on expenditures and recipients for a range of antipoverty programs, describing the evolution of the safety net over the past thirty-five years. Second, they use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to calculate the antipoverty effectiveness of federal programs for families and individuals in different circumstances. Third, they explore changes in the characteristics of recipients of means-tested transfers, tax credits and social insurance.
[TIP: I highly recommend this paper as a primer on American social programs - it covers
a wide range of initiatives, and it underscores the significant differences with the Canadian income security and universal health care systems.]

Welfare Reform: The U.S. Experience (PDF - 294K, 50 pages)
February 2008
By Robert Moffitt
Department of Economics
Johns Hopkins University
Excerpt from the abstract:
The reform of the cash-based welfare program for single mothers in the U.S. which occurred in the 1990s was the most important since its inception in 1935. The reforms imposed credible and enforceable work requirements into the program for the first time, as well as establishing time limits on lifetime receipt. Research on the effects of the reform have shown it to have reduced the program caseload and governmental expenditures on the program. In addition, the reform has had generally positive average effects on employment, earnings, and income, and generally negative effects on poverty rates, although the gains are not evenly distributed across groups. A fraction of the affected group appears to have been made worse off by the reform.

Poverty Levels and Trends in Comparative Perspective (PDF - 140K, 27 pages)
September 2008
By Daniel R. Meyer and Geoffrey L. Wallace
Excerpt from the abstract:
In 2006, 42 years after President Johnson proclaimed war on poverty, the rate of poverty according to the official measure was 12.3 percent, about the same as it was in the late-1960s. A poverty measure that incorporates additional income sources shows somewhat lower poverty, 11.4 percent, but if a relative measure (that incorporates changes in the standard of living over time) is used, poverty in 2006 would be 16.0 percent. Regardless of the exact rate, it is clear that the struggle against poverty has been protracted and difficult, and, despite a variety of social policy changes, very little progress has been made. This paper reviews the way in which poverty is officially measured in the U.S., examines which groups are most affected and how poverty has changed over time, and concludes with a comparison of U.S. poverty rates with those of other countries. The authors end with the suggestion that “perhaps it is time for a renewed war on poverty, this time fought with new commitments and different policy weapons.

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

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

10. What Do the Recently-Released U.S. Poverty Numbers Tell Us? - September 25
(Brookings Institution)

What Do the Recently-Released U.S. Poverty Numbers Tell Us? (PDF - 48K, 9 pages)
September 25, 2008
Testimony to the Joint Economic Committee
Hearing entitled “Leave No Family Behind: How Can We Reduce the Rising Number of
American Families Living in Poverty?”
By Rebecca M. Blank
"(...)

Highlights:
- poverty did not fall to any appreciable extent during the economic expansion of the 2000s. This is quite unusual.
- In past decades,the poverty rate and the unemployment rate have moved together. When unemployment fell in the 1980s expansion, so did poverty. Unemployment and poverty both fell rapidly in the strong expansion of the 1990s. But when unemployment fell after 2003, poverty remained essentially flat.
- the rise in poverty reflects the generally sluggish growth in income by all families in the bottom half of the income distribution

Anti-Poverty Strategies for the Next Decade:
* Continue to Incentivize and Support Low-Wage Work
--- Work and earnings must be at the center of any anti-poverty strategy.
--- Expanding the EITC for workers without children in their immediate households would help incentivize work among less-skilled men.
--- Increase assistance to help pay child care expenses for single mothers who are caring for children.
*Assuring the Presence of an Effective Safety Net
--- Help disconnected women and their families stabilize their incomes.
--- Revisions in Unemployment Insurance. (...)
We have had real successes in our anti-poverty efforts over the past 30 years, but there is more that we can do to reduce economic need among our citizens."

Source:
Brookings Institution

Investment tips for 2009

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For all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make some BIG bucks.

Watch for these consolidations in 2009:

1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W. R. Grace Co. will merge and become: Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace

2.) PolygramRecords, Warner Bros., and ZestaCrackers join forces and become: Poly, Warner Cracker

3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood

4.) ZippoManufacturing, AudiMotors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa

5.) FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become: FedUP

6.) Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become: Fairwell Honeychild

7.) Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become: PouponPants

8) . Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become: Knott NOW!

And finally….

9.) Victoria’s Secret and Smith & Wesson will merge under the new name: TittyTittyBangBang

Source:
http://bitsandpieces.us/2008/10/03/investment-tips-for-2009/

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And, in closing...

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Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America
http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/
Watch a visual representation of Wal Mart's growth over the past 40 years.

The Cadaver Calculator - how much are YOU worth?
http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/cadaver
My cadaver is worth $3840.

Morbid Facts About Your Birthday
http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/death

Why I don't sleep well at night
http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2008/10/09 (Video)
We have three of those adorable creatures at home; we call them the Board of Directors.
If you haven't met them yet, click the link below
(WARNING TO CAT-O-PHOBES : don't click the link below if you don't want to see cute kitty photos.)
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/personal/