Canadian Social Research Newsletter

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 1990 subscribers.

1. [Ontario] Fighting Poverty: The Best Way to Beat the Recession (Ontario Association of Food Banks) - March 12
2. [Ontario / Ottawa] Welfare woes highlighted by economic slowdown: Drummond (Ottawa Business Journal) - March 12
3. ActionPlan.gc.ca and Canada's Economic Action Plan Quarterly Reports + International Monetary Fund Supports Canada's Economic Action Plan (Finance Canada) - March 11
4. New Brunswick Poverty Reduction Initiative Update (New Brunswick Social Development) - March 5
5. What's New in The Daily (Statistics Canada):
--- Labour Force Survey, February 2009 - March 13
--- Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), Third quarter 2008 - March 12
--- Child and Spousal Support: Maintenance Enforcement Survey Statistics, 2007/2008 - March 12
--- University enrolment, 2006/2007 - March 11
--- University degrees, diplomas and certificates awarded, 2006 - March 11
--- Employment, Earnings and Hours, December 2008 - March 11
6. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - March 11

7. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
8. [U.S.] Indicators of Welfare Dependence: Annual Report to Congress, 2008 (Department of Health and Human Services) - December 2008
9. [U.S.] Update on state budget cuts (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) - March 13
10. PovertyNet Newsletter #123, February 2009 (World Bank) - March 13
11. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
--- Child care: where we came from and where we’re going - Posted:12-03-2009
--- Measuring the 'real' cost of children: A net wealth approach - Posted 12-03-2009
--- Did Australia's baby bonus increase the fertility rate? - Posted 10-03-2009
--- Integration and social housing in Australia: theory and practice - Posted 10-03-2009
--- Caring for families caring for a person with a disability - Posted 06-03-2009
12. CRINMAIL (March 2009) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Recession budget needs to fight poverty : report
Press Release
March 12, 2009
Toronto - Recession could push Ontario’s poverty rate up by four per cent in 2010 if the provincial government does not make key investments in this month’s stimulus budget, says a report released by the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB). Fighting Poverty: The Best Way to Beat the Recession proves that the provincial government must make strategic investments in social infrastructure, such as affordable housing and income supports, for the poorest Ontarians in order to stimulate the economy and contain poverty rates.

'Paycheque to paycheque,' five kids to feed
500,000 in Ontario facing poverty without budget help, report finds
March 12, 2009
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Toronto construction worker Mark Merner has been struggling to support his young family since his hours were slashed in half last fall. And he's worried it could get worse. "The construction industry is really slowing down and I've been told there might not be much work this summer," says the father of five children age 5 and younger, including a baby and a set of twins. The Merners are among about 500,000 Ontarians who will be driven into poverty by the recession unless this month's provincial budget boosts incomes and expands programs that support low-income families, says a report by the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Welfare woes highlighted by economic slowdown: Drummond
March 12, 2009
With the Ontario economy expected to further deteriorate in the coming months, large holes are being exposed in the province's main safety nets, one of Canada's leading economists told an audience of local businesspeople Thursday. Don Drummond, TD Waterhouse senior vice-president and chief executive, said only 40 per cent of unemployed people in Ontario are eligible for employment insurance due in large part to the tie-in to regional unemployment levels that determine eligibility across Canada. Furthermore, he said, it is difficult for those who are ineligible for EI to rely on the welfare system. "It is very, very difficult to get onto welfare in Ontario," he told the audience of more than 160 people at the Ottawa Business Journal's Mayor's Breakfast Series.
Source:
Ottawa Business Journal

Canadians Can Track Progress of Economic Action Plan
Website helps hold governments and parliamentarians accountable
News Release
Ottawa, March 11, 2009
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance today unveiled ActionPlan.gc.ca, a comprehensive new Government of Canada website that will allow Canadians to hold governments and public officials accountable for action on the economy. (...) ActionPlan.gc.ca includes details of Canada's Economic Action Plan, with links to specifics of initiatives and projects as they are announced. It also explains the roots of the global financial crisis and Canada's relative performance. The website will help Canadians to assess how well parliamentarians, provincial and territorial governments, businesses and others are contributing to positive action on the economy. The website will be updated regularly.

ActionPlan.gc.ca
- incl. links to:
* THE CHALLENGE * WHAT HAS BEEN DONE * THE PLAN * THE ROLLOUT * WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Canada's Economic Action Plan:
First Quarterly Report
News Release
March 10, 2009
Today the Harper Government released its first quarterly report on the progress of Canada’s Economic Action Plan – the Government’s broad and aggressive response to the global recession

Complete report
Foreword
Report in Brief
Chapter 1: Canada's Economic Action Plan
Chapter 2: Accountability Framework
Chapter 3: Working With Domestic and International Partners
Chapter 4: Progress Achieved to Date
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Next Steps

March 11 2009
International Monetary Fund Supports Stimulus Measures in Canada's Economic Action Plan
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today welcomed an International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement of support for the fiscal stimulus in Canada's Economic Action Plan, which it called "large, timely and well-targeted." Noting the stimulus package is well above the Fund's benchmark of 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the IMF statement said the immediate focus should be to implement the budget to mobilize spending.
Source:
Finance Canada

Saint John poverty reduction session to be held March 23
March 5, 2009
SAINT JOHN (CNB) - Saint John-area residents have another opportunity to take part in the New Brunswick Poverty Reduction Initiative. An additional dialogue session will be held on Monday, March 23, 6:30-9:30 p.m., at the Somerset Community Centre, 100 Ropewalk St., in Saint John. (...) The dialogue sessions are part of Bringing the pieces together, a comprehensive public consultation enabling New Brunswickers to become involved in reducing and preventing poverty. The initiative is being carried out in three stages: a dialogue phase; a round-table phase; and a final forum phase. The process is expected to be completed later this year. The result will be a plan to reduce and prevent poverty. Thirteen sessions have been held during the past six weeks. About 1,500 persons have participated, either by attending the sessions or providing input through the website, http://www.gnb.ca/poverty.
Source:
New Brunswick Social Development

March 13, 2009
Labour Force Survey, February 2009
Employment fell for the fourth consecutive month in February (-83,000), bringing total losses since the peak of last October to 295,000 (-1.7%). The February employment decrease pushed the unemployment rate up 0.5 percentage points to 7.7%.
- includes charts showing employment rate and unemployment rate along with tables showing labour force characteristics by age and sex, employment by class of worker and industry, labour force characteristics by province and labour force characteristics by province.
[ Labour Force Information, February 15 to 21, 2009 (PDF - 431K, 57 pages) ]
[ earlier editions of Labour Force Information ]

March 12, 2009
Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), Third quarter 2008
The market value of assets held in employer-sponsored pension funds fell by 8.7% during the third quarter to $869.0 billion, the largest quarterly decline in a decade.The decline, equivalent to $82.7 billion, was the result of a significant drop in stock prices and foreign investments. The third-quarter level was well below the peak of $954.6 billion reached at the end of 2007.
- includes two tables :
* Trusteed pension funds, market value of assets by type
* Trusteed pension funds: Revenue and expenditures

March 12, 2009
(under New Products)
Child and Spousal Support: Maintenance Enforcement Survey Statistics, 2007/2008 (PDF - 359K, 45 pages)
On March 31, 2008, 404,000 cases, most involving children, were registered in Maintenance Enforcement Programs (MEPs) in the eight provinces and two territories reporting data. The number of cases enrolled remained stable from the previous year. In March 2008, the median amount of the regular payment due ranged from $200 in New Brunswick to $369 in the Northwest Territories. On March 31, 2008, 64% of cases had arrears.
[ More info about the Maintenance Enforcement Survey ]

March 11, 2009
University enrolment, 2006/2007
Enrolment in Canadian universities rose 0.9% in the academic year 2006/2007, the second smallest growth rate since 2000.

March 11, 2009
University degrees, diplomas and certificates awarded, 2006
Approximately 225,900 students received a qualification from a Canadian university in 2006, a 4.9% increase from 2005. Of all qualifications, about 60%, or 136,200, were awarded to women, continuing a long-term trend in which female graduates have outnumbered their male counterparts.
- includes links to two tables:
* University qualifications awarded by program level and gender
* University qualifications awarded by field of study

6. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - March 11

From the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU):

March 11, 2009

Good childcare, healthy childcare
11 Mar 09
- Video produced by CRRU looking at well-being and health considerations in child care now available online.

Hand in hand- How the province and municipalities can create the best early learning and child care service system in Ontario
11 Mar 09
- Report from the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association outlining OMSSA’s vision for early learning and child care in Ontario.

Childcare services in Europe
11 Mar 09
- Report from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions on the child care sector in Europe.

Not in the public interest: Private development and other entrepreneurial child care schemes
11 Mar 09
- Briefing note from CCAAC advising government officials on public policy regarding the latest entrepreneurial child care scheme being promoted in Canada.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· Obama seeks early childhood investments [US]
10 Mar 09

· Women still have a long way to go [CA]
8 Mar 09

· Child care as an economic issue [CA-NB]
6 Mar 09

· Whistler’s child care ‘crisis’ deepens [CA-BC]
5 Mar 09

· Company’s coming [CA-NS]
4 Mar 09

more CC IN THE NEWS »

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.

CRRU Publications - briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications
ISSUE files - theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info

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.

March 12, 2009
* Report: Child Homelessness in the U.S.
* Study: Homeless Youth - New York City
* Aging Out of Foster Care - California
* Child Welfare System - Washington
* State Budgets and Spending on the Poor
* Food Stamp Program - Hawaii
* Economic Stimulus Spending on Education
* Black Students' College Graduation Rate - Maryland
* U.S. Education Reform
* Joblessness and Unemployment
* Cell Phone Technology in Third World Countries
* Prison Overcrowding and Prisoner Re-entry

March 9, 2009
* Joblessness and Unemployment
* Homeless Children and Families
* Child Welfare and Structured Decision Making
* Aging Out of the Foster Care System
* Children's Health Insurance Coverage
* Early Childhood Education
* Food Stamp Program
* Economic Stimulus and Health Spending
* Recession, the Global Economy, and Poor Nations
* Self-Employed Women's Association - India
* Women and Education - Pakistan
* Youth Challenge Program for High School Dropouts
* Low-income Homeowners - Florida
* The Newly Poor and Near Poor - Arizona
* Emergency Rooms and Frequent Users - Camden, NJ
* Prisoner Re-entry and Recidivism

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

Indicators of Welfare Dependence: Annual Report to Congress, 2008
December 2008
The Welfare Indicators Act of 1994 requires the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare annual reports to Congress on indicators and predictors of welfare dependence. The 2008 Indicators of Welfare Dependence, the eleventh annual report, provides welfare dependence indicators through 2005, reflecting changes that have taken place since enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in August 1996. As directed by the Welfare Indicators Act, the report focuses on benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, formerly the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program; the Food Stamp Program; and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. (...) Finally, the report has four appendices that provide additional data on major welfare programs, alternative measures of dependence and nonmarital births, as well as background information on several data and technical issues.
[Source: Executive Summary]

- 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 - Program 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 - Employment among the Low-Skilled - 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 - much more...

Program Data
**Excellent resource for qualitative AND quantitative information!
Detailed program description and information (historical and current), recent changes, and statistics for:
* Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
* Food Stamp Program
* Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF) :
Seventh Annual Report to Congress
News Release
December 2006
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 ( latest version available on the Data & Reports page )
Executive Summary (PDF file - 32K, 9 pages)
Complete report without Appendix (PDF file - 6.7MB, 220 pages)
Appendix (PDF file - 2MB, 216 pages)
- 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

Under the Canada Assistance Plan ("CAP", 1966-1996), the federal Department of Health and Welfare was required by law to table, in the House of Commons, an annual report on the operation of welfare programs and social services in Canada, in the same manner as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services presents annual reports on welfare dependence to Congress. In April 1996, a block fund called the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) replaced CAP's 50-50 cost-sharing as the statutory mechanism for determining federal contributions to provincial/territorial welfare programs. [ See A History of the Health and Social Transfers] Neither the CHST nor its successor, the Canada Social Transfer (since April 2004), contains rules regarding the production of reports about welfare for tabling and discussion in the Parliament of Canada. In fact, the last national public report about welfare in Canada that was tabled and discussed in the House of Commons was the final CAP Annual Report for 1995-96. In my view, that's not much accountability for a program of this magnitude. The CST will cost the Canadian taxpayer almost $11 billion in 2009-10 in cash transfers alone, all without any debate or even discussion in the House of Commons.

Because the CST is a block fund, and because it covers post-secondary education, early learning and childcare as well as welfare and social services, it's no longer possible to calculate how much each province and territory receives annually from Ottawa specifically earmarked for welfare. That's why you won't see any Canadian equivalent to Indicators of Welfare Dependence: Annual Report to Congress in the near future. That, and the fact that there doesn't appear to be any political will by the ruling federal party to support provincial-territorial programs of last resort at this time.

NOTE: For links to more info about the Canada Assistance Plan, the CHST and the CST, see:
Canada Assistance Plan / Canada Health and Social Transfer / Canada Social Transfer Resources page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/cap.htm

Federal Transfers to Provinces and Territories - updated January 2009
...everything you ever wanted to know about federal transfers.
(or what the Department of Finance wants you to know about federal transfers)

AN UPDATE ON STATE BUDGET CUTS:
At Least 34 States Have Imposed Cuts That Hurt Vulnerable Residents, But the Federal Economic Recovery Package Is Reducing the Harm
March 13, 2009
By Nicholas Johnson, Phil Oliff and Jeremy Koulish
HTML version
PDF version (13pp.)
At least nine states are already using fiscal relief provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to minimize cuts in public services. At least 34 states made budget cuts that threaten vital services for many residents before enactment of the recovery package. Additional cuts are likely in the coming months as recovery act funding is sufficient only to fill about 40 percent of state shortfalls.
Cuts have been enacted in the following areas:
* Public health: 18 states
* Elderly and disabled services: 18 states
* K-12 education: 21 states
* Colleges and universities: 28 states
* State workforce reductions: 37 states
* At least 15 states have increased taxes or taken other revenue raising measures.

STATE BUDGET TROUBLES WORSEN
March 13, 2009
By Elizabeth C. McNichol and Iris Lav
HTML version
PDF version (10pp.)
At least 47 states faced or are facing shortfalls in their budgets for this and/or next year, and severe fiscal problems are highly likely to continue into the following year as well. Combined budget gaps for the remainder of this fiscal year and state fiscal years 2010 and 2011 are estimated to total more than $350 billion."
* At least 47 states faced or are facing shortfalls in their budgets for this and/or next year.
* Mid-year shortfalls of $53 billion have opened up in the 2009 budgets of at least 42 states and the District of Columbia. This new round of mid-year shortfalls is in addition to the budget gaps of $48 billion that 29 states closed as they adopted their budgets for this fiscal year.
* Forty-four states already project shortfalls totaling more than $105 billion for fiscal 2010. This total 2010 shortfall is expected to grow to about $145 billion. Joining this list since the last update: West Virginia.

POLICY POINTS:
OVERVIEW OF STATES AND THE WEAK ECONOMY
March 13, 2009
HTML version
PDF version (3pp.)
This snapshot of state budget problems has been updated to reflect the new data on state budget cuts and shortfalls included in the above analyses.

Source:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
CBPP is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

PovertyNet Newsletter #123, February 2009
In this issue:
1) Crisis Reveals Growing Finance Gaps for Developing Countries
2) Financial Crisis Highlights Need for More Social Safety Nets, Especially Conditional Cash Transfers
3) International Women's Day 2009
4) Blog on World Bank's World Development Report on Climate Change
5) Jobs for a Globalizing World: World Bank Labor Market Policy Core Course
6) Help Us!
7) To Receive this Newsletter

[ Recent newsletters - includes a Quicksubscribe box if you wish to receive the newsletter by email.]

Source:
PovertyNet Newsletter ===> the content of this link changes each month
The PovertyNet Newsletter is a monthly newsletter containing updates on new information and resources available on the PovertyNet web site, covering:
* Poverty Reduction Strategies * Pro-Poor Growth and Inequality * Poverty Analysis * Poverty Monitoring * Impact Evaluation * Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) * Empowerment
- includes links to earlier issues
Source of the PovertyNet Newsletter:
PovertyNet
Topics include:
* Achieving Shared Growth * Empowerment *Poverty Analysis * Employment & Shared Growth * Poverty Mapping * Migration and Development * Poverty Monitoring * Moving Out of Poverty * Impact Evaluation * Social Capital * Poverty & Social Impact Analysis * Poverty and Health * Poverty Reduction Strategies * Safety Nets and Transfers
Source of PovertyNet:
[ World Bank ]

Poverty Reduction Strategies
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are one of the most tangible outcomes of the new approach to development defined in the Bank's Comprehensive Development Framework. Under the PRSP process, low-income countries write their own plans for reducing poverty. Since July 2002, the World Bank has based its Country Assistance Strategies, its plans for assistance to low-income countries, on PRSPs

[ World Bank ]
The World Bank consists of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Each institution plays a different but supportive role in our mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together we provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes

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 60 events (mostly conferences) of interest to social researchers...
Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO) - home page
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.
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

10 March 2009 - CRINMAIL 1065
* HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Week two sees children's rights take centre stage [news]
* MEDIA: Another Perspective - How journalists can promote children's human rights and equality [publication]
* INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION: Session 134 [event]
* SOUTH AFRICA: A review of the restructuring of the police service's family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit [publication]
* INDIA: Child marriage is major peril [news]
* CALL FOR PAPERS: The Right to Education Project
* EMPLOYMENT: The Albanian Coalition "All together against child trafficking" [job posting]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 300+ earlier weekly issues, many of which are special editions focusing on special themes, such as the 45th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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

Warning Labels

Manufacturers of consumer products have to be liberal with the warning labels these days, lest they get sued.
But for these, it's hard to know whether the company is being outright stupid or if they're simply targeting the most brain dead dumb among us.

A Selection of Product Warnings:

* "Caution: The contents of this bottle should not be fed to fish." -- On a bottle of shampoo for dogs.

* "For external use only!" -- On a curling iron.

* "Do not use in shower." -- On a hair dryer.

* "Do not use while sleeping." -- On a hair dryer.

* "Do not use while sleeping or unconscious." -- On a hand-held massaging device.

* "Do not place this product into any electronic equipment." -- On the case of a chocolate CD in a gift basket.

* "This product not intended for use as a dental drill." -- On an electric rotary tool.

* "Caution: Do not spray in eyes." -- On a container of underarm deodorant.

* "Eating rocks may lead to broken teeth." -- On a novelty rock garden set called "Popcorn Rock."

* "Caution! Contents hot!" -- On a Domino's Pizza box.

* "Caution: Shoots rubber bands." -- On a product called "Rubber Band Shooter."

* "Please keep out of children." -- On a butcher knife.

* "Do not look into laser with remaining eye." -- On a laser pointer.

* "Do not use for drying pets." -- In the manual for a microwave oven.

* "For use by trained personnel only." -- On a can of air freshener.

* "Warning: has been found to cause cancer in laboratory mice." -- On a box of rat poison.

* "Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage." -- On a portable stroller.

* "For indoor or outdoor use only." -- On a string of Christmas lights.

* "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly." -- On a child sized Superman costume.

* "May be harmful if swallowed." -- On a shipment of hammers.

* "Warning: May contain nuts." -- On a package of peanuts.

* "Remove plastic before eating." -- On the wrapper of a Fruit Roll-Up snack.

Source:
http://rinkworks.com/said/warnings.shtml
(Click the link for two dozen more warnings)