Canadian Social Research Newsletter
May 13, 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 1805 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Labour Force Survey, April 2007 - May 11
--- Study: Income inequality and redistribution, 1976 to 2004 - May 11
--- Low Income Cut-offs for 2006 and Low Income Measures for 2005 - May 10
--- Consolidated government finance: Assets and liabilities, March 31, 2005 - May 3
2. Talkin’ housing with the Bush man! - May 10
3. In Search of a Poverty Strategy (Toronto Star Forum on Poverty) - May 9
4. Tracking the Trends: Social Health in Edmonton, 2007 Edition (Edmonton Social Planning Council) - April 12
5. State of the World's Mothers 2007: Saving the Lives of Children Under 5 (Save the Children [U.S.-based, international]) - May 8
6. Wealthiest 10% in Ontario earn 75 times more than poorest 10% (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - May 7
7. Worst is over, best is long gone (Ernie Lightman in The Toronto Star) - May 7
8. Newfoundland and Labrador Government Increases Basic Income Support Benefits (NL Human Resources, Labour and Employment) - March 30
9. Income Assistance for Post-Secondary Education (Nova Scotia Community Services) - October 26/06
10. What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - May 11

International Content

11. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
12. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing

Have a great week!

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

May 11, 2007
Labour Force Survey, April 2007
Estimates from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey showed little overall change in employment in April. This follows strong employment gains since September 2006. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at an historic 33-year low of 6.1%.

Related report:

Labour Force Information, April 15 to 21, 2007
[ Earlier editions of this report ]

May 11, 2007
Study: Income inequality and redistribution, 1976 to 2004
Inequality in after-tax family income grew through the 1990s, driven by an increase in inequality in family market income, according to a new study.

Complete study:

Income Inequality and Redistribution in Canada: 1976 to 2004
By Andrew Heisz
Executive summary
Complete study (PDF file - 395K, 58 pages)
[ Earlier issues of this study ]

May 10, 2007 (New Products)
Low Income Cut-offs for 2006
and Low Income Measures for 2005 (PDF file - 304K, 37 pages)
Low income cut-offs (LICOs) are income thresholds, determined by analysing family expenditure data, below which families will devote a larger share of income to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family would. To reflect differences in the costs of necessities among different community and family sizes, LICOs are defined for five categories of community size and seven of family size.

Low income Measures (LIMs), on the other hand, are strictly relative measures of low income, set at 50% of adjusted median family income. These measures are categorized according to the number of adults and children present in families, reflecting the economies of scale inherent in family size and composition. This publication incorporates a detailed description of the methods used to arrive at both measurements. It also explains how base years are defined and how LICOs are updated using the Consumer Price Index.

[ Other issues in this series ]

May 3, 2007
Consolidated government finance: Assets and liabilities, March 31, 2005
- includes a table showing Consolidated Net Financial Debt of federal, provincial, territorial general and local governments for March 31, 2001 to 2005 in dollars and expressed as a % or Gross Domestic Product and per capita expenditure
- also includes Consolidated Net Financial Debt of provincial, territorial general and local governments as of March 31, 2005 in total dollars and dollars per capita

- Go to the Poverty Measures - Canadian Resources page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty.htm
- Go to the Social Statistics Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/stats.htm

Talkin’ housing with the Bush man!
May 10, 2007
The charming, even charismatic, Philip Mangano - U.S. President George W. Bush’s “homeless czar” - was the keynote speaker on day one of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association annual congress in Calgary on Thursday, and he didn’t disappoint! Of course, you’d expect that a senior political appointee for the Bush administration would be a good salesman for the policies of that government.
Source:
The Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm

From The Toronto Star:

In search of a poverty strategy:
Stop picking away at the edges of poverty,
say forum speakers, and take a leaf from Ireland's comprehensive plan
May 9, 2007
By Laurie Monsebraaten and Rita Daly
"(...) I think without any question, ... we've seen a dramatic reduction in the willingness of governments to address the poverty issue in the country."
(From panellist Bob Rae, former Ontario NDP Premier, and recent candidate in the federal Liberal Party leadership race)

Editorial comment:
Mr. Rae should know about the "reduction in the willingness of governments to address the poverty issue". While he was Ontario Premier from 2001 to 2005, he managed to alienate most of the NDP's traditional base of support because of his government's cost containment measures in Ontario's social programs, especially welfare. I'm sure there were many social justice group people in the audience who remembered only too well the Ontario Expenditure Plan ("Rae Days"), Enhanced Verification of welfare applications (read "Third Degree" or "Spanish Inquisition", according to social advocates...), no more earnings exemptions allowed for the first three months on welfare, administrative blitzes to encourage welfare recipients and applicants to apply for early retirement benefits or disability or survivor benefits under the Canada Pension Plan, and so on.
-----------------
For more information on the willingness of Bob Rae's government to address the poverty issue from 2001 to 2005,
see the Ontario section of Another Look at Welfare Reform (a 1997 report by the National Council of Welfare).
-----------------

Look beyond the gap: Analyst
Researcher for right-leaning think-tank says the focus should be on why people aren't succeeding in the labour market
May 9, 2007
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Rich people don't cause poor people. In essence, that's the view of the fiscally-conservative C.D. Howe Institute and its research director, Finn Poschmann. When asked about statistics that suggest the fortunes of low-income Canadian families aren't rising as fast as those of rich families at a time when the national economy is booming, Poschmann was dismissive. "If you start fussing over what's happening at the high end of the income scale and say, `look, the rich are doing very well, but the poor aren't,' that could lead you to a distraction," he said in an interview. "Why the rich are doing well might be very different from the reason why people at the low end aren't performing well in the labour market," he said.

NOTE: if you click on either of the two Toronto Star articles above, you'll see links to the following related media items in a box on the right-hand side of the page:

* In photos: Income gap forum
* Speak Out: Finding it hard to get by?
* Star video: Wage gap
* Public Forum: Wage gap
* War on Poverty: Special Coverage
* Goar: Poverty, from those who know
* Residents seek role
* James: Urban dream deferred
* Graphic: Toronto neighbourhoods in need
* Star Video: Scarborough Village
* VR: The Playground
* Star video: Jason's story

More War on Poverty resources from The Star:
- for links to 30 recent Star articles on poverty and social programs, just scroll down past the "New" section near the top of
the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm

Economy Sizzles But Edmonton’s Social Health Not as Hot: Social Planning Council Releases New Publication Tracking Social Trends
News Release
April 12, 2007
The Edmonton Social Planning Council today released the 2007 edition of its signature publication Tracking the Trends. The 97-page publication is a detailed examination of demographic, education and employment, living costs and housing, income and wealth, poverty and social trends that together comprise the social health of Edmontonians. “By tracking these trends, we found that - despite a booming economy with record low unemployment and labour shortages - Edmonton’s social health index is mixed with some indicators up, others down, and a modest increase of 10.95 per cent since 1993,” says John Kolkman, Research and Policy Analysis Coordinator for the Council.

Tracking the Trends: Social Health in Edmonton, 2007 Edition
Tracking the Trends provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of social and economic trends in the Edmonton region. This is a great reference document for people working on social issues, particularly as current data is presented in the context of historical changes.
- incl. links to the following sections:
* Major Social and Economic Trends *Demographics * Education and Employment * Cost of Living and Housing Trends * Income and Wealth * Poverty * Government Income Support
- also includes Part 2, Edmonton Social Health Index (15 Social Health Indicators)

NOTE: the online version of this report contains all content except the detailed data tables that are provided in the publication’s appendix.
You can buy the paper copy of this 97-page report from the ESPC for $30 ($20 for ESPC members) + shipping.

Source:
Edmonton Social Planning Council

- Go to the Alberta Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/abkmrk.htm

State of the World's Mothers 2007:
Saving the Lives of Children Under 5

A Mothers Day Report Card: The Best And Worst Countries to Be a Mother
Sweden tops list, Niger ranks last, United States ranks 26th, tied with Hungary
May 8, 2007— Save the Children, a U.S.-based independent global humanitarian organization, today released its eighth annual Mothers’ Index that ranks the best — and worst — places to be a mother and a child and compares the well-being of mothers and children in 140 countries, more than in any previous year.

Egypt Makes the Most Progress and Iraq the Least In Reducing Child Deaths, Report Finds
Millions of Children Still Dying Each Year Despite Availability of Proven, Low-Cost Interventions that Could Save Their Lives

Special Features from the Report

Download the complete report (PDF file - 2MB, 70 pages)
[Canada? Number 15.]

State of the World's Mothers Reports
Every year, the State of the World's Mothers report reminds us of the inextricable link between the well-being of mothers and that of their children. Seventy-five years of on-the-ground experience has demonstrated that when mothers have health care, education and economic opportunity, both they and their children have the best chance to survive and thrive. Each year a different issue that impacts mothers and their children is highlighted.
- incl. links to annual reports for 2007 back to 2000

Source:
Save the Children
"Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world."

- Go to the International Children, Families and Youth Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chn2.htm
- Go to the Social Research Links in Other Countries (Non-Government) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internatngo.htm

New from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

Ontario’s income gap at all-time high
Press Release
May 7, 2007
TORONTO – Ontario’s after-tax income gap between the richest and poorest 10% of families raising children under 18 has reached an all-time high, according to a new study released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).The richest 10% of families now earn 75 times more than the poorest 10%. In 1976, they earned only 27 times more.

Complete report:

Ontario's Growing Gap: Time for leadership - PD file - 453K, 40 pages)

Related media coverage:

Ontario's rich-poor gap is huge: study
Report shows wealthiest 10% earn 75 times more than poorest 10%
By April Lindgren
May 8, 2007
TORONTO - The income gap between Ontario's richest and poorest families is greater than ever before and the most pronounced in the country, according to a study released yesterday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The research shows the most affluent 10 per cent of families with children under 18 had before-tax income in 2004 that was 75 times more than the poorest 10 per cent. In 1976, they earned 27 times more.
Source:
The Ottawa Citizen

Rich, poor gap widens
Few income gains during past 30 years for families with kids, Ontario study says
May 7, 2007
Rita Daly
Half of Ontario families raising children have seen their fortunes stagnate or fall behind compared with a decade ago, while the incomes of the richest have soared, says a new study on the growing income gap. And since 1998, the gap between Ontario's richest and poorest families raising children has widened at a faster pace than the rest of the nation as a whole, says the study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives being released tomorrow.
Source:
The Toronto Star

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

Worst is over, best is long gone
May 7, 2007
Carol Goar
The good news, said Ernie Lightman, professor of social policy at the University of Toronto, is that the slash-and-burn era is behind us. Canadians are no longer willing to sacrifice their national safety nets for tax cuts. The bad news is that we'll never get back what we had. Universal social programs are irretrievably gone. The welfare state is history.
Source:
The Toronto Star

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

Newfoundland and Labrador

Government Increases Basic Income Support Benefits
March 30, 2007
Effective April 1, government will fulfill another key commitment to poverty reduction by providing an additional $3 million annually to further increase basic income support. This will be accomplished by tying the basic income support rate to the provincial consumer price index (CPI) which means an increase of 1.8 per cent.
Source:
Newfoundland and Labrador
Human Resources, Labour and Employment

- Go to the Newfoundland and Labrador Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nfbkmrk.htm

Nova Scotia

Income Assistance for Post-Secondary Education (PDF file - 29K, 2 pages)
News Release
October 26, 2006
The Department of Community Services is creating opportunities for eligible income assistance recipients to get the education they need for a brighter future. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch announced today, October 26th, a new pilot program called Career Seek which will allow income assistance clients to attend university or a postsecondary education program of more than two years and still receive benefits from the income assistance program.
Source:
Nova Scotia Community Services

- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.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.
Below, you'll find selected content of the latest issue of this bulletin.

For more information about this service,
including instructions for (un)subscribing, see:
http://www.childcarecanada.org

11-May-07

---------------------------------------------------
What's New
---------------------------------------------------

FIRST NZCER NATIONAL SURVEY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SERVICES: 2003-2004
Report from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research provides a baseline picture of early childhood services in the country at the beginning of a period of considerable change in the sector.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101433

CHANGING CHILDCARE IN MANITOBA: RESEARCH TOOLS, SKILLS AND ACTION PLANNING
Final reports for Parkland, Thompson and St-Pierre-Jolys are now available as part of Child Care Coalition of Manitoba's major research project.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101432

RELATIONSHIP OF ENGLISH-ONLY TO YOUNG CHILDREN'S SOCIAL AND LANGUAGE SKILLS
Snapshot from the FPG Child Development Institute (US) summarizes research which shows that "English-only policies may not help children with English proficiency, and may actually harm children in other ways."
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101430

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

Howard says full-time parenting best [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101396

When Mikey won't eat: City daycares ban trans fat, but parents still hungry for nutritious meals [CA-ON]
Now Magazine, 9 May 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101426

Canada plunges on children's welfare index [CA]
Canadian Press, 8 May 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101393

Childcare revisited: the first generation of working mums speak out [NZ]
New Zealand Herald, 6 May 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=101390

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This message was forwarded through the Childcare Resource
and Research Unit e-mail news notifier. For information on the
CRRU e-mail notifier, including instructions for (un)subscribing,
see http://www.childcarecanada.org

The Childcare Resource and Research Unit
University of Toronto, Canada
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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

Link to the CRRU home page:
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

APO Weekly Briefing
The content of this page changes each week, and it includes links to a few book/report reviews, about two dozen new reports, a few job ads and 50+ events of interest to social researchers, especially those who'd like the boss to pay for their trip to Australia to attend a conference in their field...

Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO)
With nearly 120 member centres and institutes, Australian Policy Online offers easy access to much of the best Australian social, economic, cultural and political research available online. APO is maintained by the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology.
NOTE: the APO home page includes links to the five most popular reports on the APO website, and this list is updated each week.

APO Archive
The APO archive is grouped into 23 subject areas, with entries appearing in reverse chronological order.
* Ageing *Asia and the pacific * Citizenship and the law * Disability * Economics and trade * Education * Employment and workplace relations * The environment * Foreign policy and defence * Gender and sexuality * Health * Housing * Families and households * Immigration and refugees * Income, poverty and wealth * Indigenous * Media, communications and cultural policy * Politics and government * Population, multiculturalism and ethnicity * Religion and faith * Rural and regional * Science and technology * Social policy * Urban and regional planning * Youth

- Go to the Social Research Links in Other Countries (Non-Government) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internatngo.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 ]

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

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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