Canadian Social Research Newsletter
December 16, 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 1852 subscribers.

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. National Rental Vacancy Rate Unchanged from October 2006 at 2.6 per cent (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) - December 13
2. Canada's rich taxed less than in the U.S and should pay more: Study (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - December 12
3. Nova Scotia Department of Community Services - new website
4. What's New from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women:
--- Integrating the voices of low-income women into policy discussions on the Canada Social Transfer (August 2007)
--- Women’s experiences of social programs for people with low incomes - 2007
5. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- National balance sheet accounts, third quarter 2007 - December 14
--- Canada's international investment position, third quarter 2007 - December 12
--- Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), second quarter 2007 - December 12
--- Provincial and territorial government finance: Assets and liabilities, March 31, 2006 - December 11
--- Census Snapshots of Canada - Population (Age and sex)
--- Census Snapshots of Canada - Families
6. More financial assistance in Canada for refugees than for old age pensioners? - No! (Internet Urban Legend)
7. New from Nova Scotia Community Services:
--- Career Seek: Help [for welfare clients] to Attend Post-secondary Programs - Revised to December 5
--- New Child and Youth Strategy Released - December 3
8. British Columbia : What's new from the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance:
--- welfare payments via government debit cards? - December 6
--- 2006-2007 Annual Report of the Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities
--- 2006/07 Annual Service Plan Report
9. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - December 14

International Content

10. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
11. Income inequality hits record levels in the U.S. (Center on Budget Policy and Priorities) - December 14
12. New York City to Lead Country in Remaking Poverty Gauge (City Limits) - November 19
13. Merry Sweatshop Christmas from Wal-Mart! (National Labor Committee - New York) - December 12
14. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing : Selected recent content, various sources
--- Welfare expenditure Australia 2005-06 - Posted 13-12
--- Putting children first: improving responses to family homelessness - Posted 13-12
--- What are low ability workers to do when unskilled jobs disappear? - Posted 13-12
--- Working hours: a global comparison - Posted 09-12
15. CRINMAIL - Special Edition on the 'World Fit for Children' Follow-Up Event (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN) - December 12

National Rental Vacancy Rate Unchanged from October 2006 at 2.6 per cent
OTTAWA, December 13, 2007 — The average rental apartment vacancy rate in Canada's 34 major centres1 remained unchanged at 2.6 per cent in October 2007 compared to October 2006, according to the Rental Market Survey released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

To access CMHC’s 2007 reports on the rental market select from the links below:

* Rental Market Reports — Major Centres — more coverage of the secondary rental market in selected centres ntres
* Rental Market Report — Canada Highlights — at-a-glance rental market information for Canada’s 34 major centres
* Rental Market Report — Canada and Provincial Highlights — summary of rental market stats for urban centres with a population of over 10,000
* Rental Market Statistics Report — a sourcebook of statistical tables with national, provincial and local rental housing market data

Source:
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Related links:

Private rental market is failing tenant households
December 13, 2007
By Michael Shapcott
Rents in privately-owned housing are continuing to skyrocket across Canada, according to the latest national rental market survey released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. A new affordability index developed by CMHC reveals that more than half the renter households in 11 of Canada’s 26 major urban areas cannot afford the average market rent being charged by private landlords. Windsor tops the league table for the least affordable rental market, followed by Victoria, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Hamilton, Oshawa, Sudbury, Calgary, Kitchener and St. John’s.
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

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

Canada's rich taxed less than in the U.S and should pay more: Study
Press Release
December 12, 2007
OTTAWA—Canada should raise federal personal income tax rates on the rich to close the growing income gap and to bring them more in line with those in the U.S., says a study released today by the Alternative Federal Budget project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study, by economist Andrew Jackson, points out that Canada's top federal tax rate is considerably lower than the U.S.: The top U.S. tax rate is 35% on incomes over $326,000 and 33% on incomes over $150,000; Canada's top federal income tax rate is 29% on incomes of over $116,000.

Complete study:

Why Charity Isn’t Enough:
The Case for Raising Taxes on Canada’s Rich (PDF file - 216K, 12 pages)
December 2007
By Andrew Jackson
This Alternative Federal Budget Technical Paper makes a clear and simple case for raising taxes among the richest of Canadians, to fund the kinds of things Canadians say they want and need to continue to be productive citizens: public health care, affordable housing, reasonable university tuition, better public infrastructure, public transit, and affordable child care.

Earlier related report from the CCPA:

Eroding Tax Fairness:
Tax Incidence in Canada, 1990 to 2005 (PDF File - 967K, 44 pages)
November 2007

Source:
Alternative Federal Budget Project
[ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - CCPA]

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

Nova Scotia Community Services
- incl. links to:

Support for Children, Youth & Families
- adoption, fostering, child care, abuse, learning...

Services for Persons with Disabilities
- community-based and residential support...

Employment Support & Financial Assistance
- getting and keeping a job, income assistance...

Assistance with Housing & Repairs
- affordable housing, repair grants, loans...

About this Department
- minister, legislation, publications, jobs...

- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.htm

What's new from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW):

New Publications on Women’s Experiences
of Social Programs for People with Low Incomes
The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) is proud to launch a new comprehensive research report and a new fact sheet. These publications are part of CRIAW’s publication series on re-thinking economic and social justice: women resisting poverty and exclusion.

Integrating the voices of low-income women
into policy discussions on the Canada Social Transfer:
First Nations women in Vancouver, immigrant and refugee
women in Calgary and women with disabilities in Winnipeg (PDF file - 640K, 119 pages)
August 2007
Quantitative data about women and poverty already exist. This research provides meaning and texture to that experience of poverty, highlighting issues that quantitative research and policy analysis too often
overlook.

CRIAW FACTsheet : Women’s experiences of
social programs for people with low incomes (PDF file - 644K, 119 pages)
2007
Based on the above study, this fact sheet weaves together the voices of women with critical analysis and detailed evidence on how the devolution of social programs has impacted on diverse low-income women’s lives. It provides important evidence as to why and how listening to women’s voices is critical to knowing the real issues in policy making and programming. (...) It combines existing quantitative research with new qualitative research based on the perspectives of policy makers, social service providers, low-income First Nations, immigrant, refugee women and women with disabilities from three Canadian cities.

Source:
Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women

- Go to the the Canadian Non-Governmental Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/womencanngo.htm

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

December 14, 2007
National balance sheet accounts, third quarter 2007
National net worth reached $5.4 trillion by the end of the third quarter of 2007, or $163,700 per capita. National net worth expanded by a modest $63 billion in the quarter. This represented an increase of 1.2% over the second quarter, the weakest growth in eight quarters.

December 12, 2007
Canada's international investment position, third quarter 2007
Canada's net liabilities to non-residents increased $12.2 billion in the third quarter, mainly reflecting the appreciation of the Canadian dollar.

December 12, 2007
Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), second quarter 2007

December 12, 2007
Education indicators, 2007
Complete report:
Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program 2007

December 11, 2007
Provincial and territorial government finance: Assets and liabilities, March 31, 2006
On March 31, 2006, the net financial debt (defined as the excess of liabilities over financial assets) of provincial and territorial general governments reached $253 billion, down $6 billion or 2.3% compared with March 31, 2005. Financial assets were up 7.5% to $333.8 billion, and total liabilities were up 3.0% to $586.8 billion.

From Canadian Social Trends December 2007:

Census Snapshot of Canada — Population (Age and sex)
This article highlights some of the key trends observed in age and sex data from the 2006 Census.
HTML
PDF (48K, 2 pages)

Census snapshot of Canada — Families
This article highlights some of the key trends observed in family data from the 2006 Census
HTML
PDF (44K, 2 pages)

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

Awright, enough already.

Over the past few years, I've received no less than a dozen emails citing the "outrageous fact" that refugees who come to Canada get more financial assistance from the federal government than a Canadian citizen receiving Old Age Security. As the story goes, refugees just arriving in Canada qualify for $2,470 per month in financial assistance from the federal government, much higher than the $1,012 maximum available to Old Age Security pensioners. These figures were purportedly from a column that appeared in a Toronto Star column November 27/04, and they were circulated far and wide by email (ain't technology grand...) before someone realized that the original email contained a basic error of interpretation. The author of that email didn't understand that a $1,890 startup allowance for refugees was a one-time payment and assumed that this was a monthly payment. In the end, the kerfuffle led to clarifications being posted online from a number of credible sources; however, the myth is still out there, and it's still as false as it ever was. If someone sends you an email shreiking that refugees get more financial assistance than pensioners, , please help debunk this urban legend by referring the person who sent you the email to either of the links below...

Responding to chain email with false information
- excellent resource from the Canadian Council of Refugees
- includes an overview of the issue as well as links to disclaimers and corrections from the Toronto Star, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (see below) and KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

More financial assistance for refugees than old age pensions in Canada?
A letter to the editor of a Canadian newspaper alleged that refugees get more financial assistance from the federal government than Canadian pensioners.
Fact:
Refugees don’t receive more financial assistance from the federal government than Canadian pensioners. In the letter, a one-time, start-up payment provided to some refugees in Canada was mistaken for an ongoing, monthly payment. Unfortunately, although the newspaper published a clarification, the misleading information had already spread widely over e-mail and the internet.
Source:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Related link:

Snopes.com Refugee Whiz - the U.S. version, based on the Canadian version!

New from the
Nova Scotia Department of Community Services:

Career Seek: Help [for welfare clients] to Attend Post-secondary Programs
Revised to December 5, 2007
(launched as a pilot project in October 2006)
--- Career Seek Frequently Asked Questions (also revised to December 5, 2007)

Related links:

University welfare rules will help about 300 students
Province makes it easier for people on social assistance to improve their education
December 5, 2007
About 300 Nova Scotians on welfare have a better chance at a university education under changes to a provincial program that take effect in January. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch said last week that changes to the Career Seek program were coming soon, and she released details Tuesday. The program, announced in October 2006, allowed people on income assistance to pursue a post-secondary program of more than two years while collecting benefits. Critics said the eligibility rules were much too strict, and they pointed to the fact only two people have enrolled as proof.
Source:
The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax)

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

New Child and Youth Strategy Released
December 3, 2007
Nova Scotia's kids can now get more out of life, thanks to a new Child and Youth Strategy released today, Dec. 3. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch released the strategy titled Our Kids Are Worth It. (...) The strategy provides a range of services from prevention to intensive intervention. It is a combination of an expansion of existing services that work and an introduction of new services.
Some highlights include:
-- outreach and support for families raising children
-- shorter wait times and improved mental health services
-- co-ordination of professionals and programs
-- youth navigators, a partnership with Kids Help Phone and a new website for youth information and support
-- new programs for at-risk youth
-- provincial youth advisory network

Our Kids Are Worth It:
Strategy for Children and Youth

- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.htm

What's new from the BC Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance:

B.C. to put welfare payments on government debit cards
System to free recipients from cheque fees and carrying cash
December 06, 2007
VICTORIA -- Low-income British Columbians may soon get government-issued debit cards so they can manage assistance payments without facing hefty cheque-cashing fees or other problems. The project -- which follows a similar program in Alberta -- is meant to target the 24,000 low-income earners in the province who either don't have bank accounts or are otherwise ineligible to receive payments by direct deposit.
Source:
Vancouver Sun

Annual Report, 2006 - 2007
Minister's Council on Employment for Persons with Disabilities
December 3, 2007
* Council Mandate
* Minister's Message
* Introduction to the 2006-2007 Annual Report
* Background
* Annual Report 2006-2007
* The Next Steps
* A Final Note

2006/07 Annual Service Plan Report (PDF file - 1.6MB, 44 pages)
* Appendices (PDF file - 40K, 9 pages)

- Go to the BC Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk.htm

What's new from the
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) :
[NOTE: The Childcare Resource and Research Unit left
the University of Toronto in spring 2007, and is now incorporated as a non-profit organization.]

December 14, 2007

What's new

The daycare campaign revisited: From baby steps to beer and popcorn
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112218
Article from Policy Options discusses how and why the media dropped "baby" during the last federal election campaign, and why daycare advocates say it was a crying shame.

Government launches second phase of consultation on child care standards
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112220
Press release from the Government of Alberta seeks input on proposed licensing regulations: questionnaire online until February 4, 2008.

Discussant -- Surplus or profit: the case of public funding for private childcare provision
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112219
Report from Helen Penn is a response to the presentations at the International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare (ICMEC) on 'Surplus or profit: the case of public funding for private childcare provision'.

The children's plan: Building brighter futures
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112221
Report by the Government of Great Britain outlines the goals for the next ten years under each of the children's plans' strategic objectives, with a chapter at the end looking at how to make the reforms happen.

Child care in the news

Full-day kindergarten offers head start [CA-ON]
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112215
Ottawa Citizen, 13 Dec 07

Show us the money, Ed [GB]
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112222
Guardian Unlimited, 12 Dec 07

BC rapped for child poverty [CA-BC]
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112224
Cariboo Press, 12 Dec 07

Government bid to reshape childhood [GB]
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112214
Guardian Unlimited, 11 Dec 07

Child care system should not be run for profit alone [CA-NL]
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=112223
St. John's Telegram, 8 Dec 2007

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

Poverty Dispatch (U.S). ===> the content of this link changes twice a week
- links to news items from the American press about poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.

December 13, 2007
* Editorials: People Living in Poverty - Ohio, Michigan, Indiana
* Reservation Homeless Survey - Minnesota
* Homelessness and Housing - Maine
* Medicaid Funding and Reform - Minnesota, Florida
* Medicaid Computer System - New Hampshire
* Healthy Indiana Plan
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Social Services and Verification of Eligibility - Maryland
* Child Welfare Workloads and Funding - Washington, Virginia
* Farm Bill and Food Assistance - Minnesota
* School Free Breakfast Program - Wisconsin
* Home Foreclosures - Minnesota, Ohio
* Low-wage Workers and Retirement Savings
* Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
* States and Immigration Policies
* Payday Lending Legislation - Ohio
* Paid Sick Leave - Ohio

December 10, 2007
* People Living in Poverty - Ohio, Michigan
* Child Poverty - Indiana
* Rural Poverty - Virginia
* Anti-poverty Programs - Louisiana
* Child Well-being - Texas
* Health of Children Displaced by Hurricanes
* Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program
* State Children's Health Insurance Program - California
* Medicaid Reform and Covering the Uninsured - Texas
* Massachusetts Health Care Plan
* Alternatives to Payday Lending
* No Child Left Behind Reauthorization
* Social Security Disability Claims
* Illegal Immigration and Social Services
* States and Home Foreclosures

Search Poverty Dispatches
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches, links to Web-based news items dealing with poverty, welfare reform, and related topics twice a week. Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media. Persons wishing to receive Poverty Dispatches by e-mail should send a request to rsnell@ssc.wisc.edu.

Past Poverty Dispatches - back to June 2006

Poverty Dispatch Digest Archive - archive of weekly digests* 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

Income inequality hits record levels, new CBO data show
Incomes Rose $180,000 for Top 1 Percent in 2005 But Just $400 for Middle-Income Households
December 14, 2007
By Arloc Sherman
[PDF version - 4 pages]
Real after-tax incomes jumped by an average of nearly $180,000 for the top 1 percent of households in 2005, while rising just $400 for middle-income households and $200 for lower-income households, according to new data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Taken together with prior research, the new data indicate that income is now more concentrated at the top than at any time since 1929.
Other highlights of the CBO data show that as of 2005:
* The share of the nation’s total after-tax income going to the top 1 percent of households more than doubled and hit the highest level on record (with data back to 1979).
* The share of national after-tax income going to the middle fifth of households (the middle 20 percent) was the smallest on record.
* Similarly, the share of national after-income tax going to households in the bottom fifth was the smallest on record.
The $180,000 average income gain for these households in 2005 is more than three times the average middle-income household’s total income.
Source:
Center on Budget Policy and Priorities

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

New York City is the first city or state to adopt a version of
the alternative poverty measure proposed by the National Academy of Sciences in 1995.

New York City to Lead Country in Remaking Poverty Gauge
Most antipoverty workers think the dated federal poverty measure
creates almost as many problems as it solves. The city is moving forward to implement a new one.
November 19, 2007
New York City is changing the way it measures poverty among its residents. By the middle of next year, the city will replace the federal poverty measure—which has been used for almost 40 years—with new guidelines it is developing to get a better picture of who is living in poverty and how city initiatives affect those residents. The city’s efforts are a prominent example of the move toward formulating alternative measures of poverty, both locally and nationally. Public officials and service providers are growing more and more frustrated that the federal poverty measure no longer accurately relates to the lives of low-income families. (...) This August, a Congressional hearing on this very issue yielded a strong consensus that the federal measure is broken and must be fixed. As a result, the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the House Committee on Ways and Means is considering introducing a bill “to get the discussion going” as early as next year, said subcommittee staff director Nick Gwyn. In New York state, Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s relatively new Economic Security Cabinet has shown interest in adopting some form of alternative measure as well.
Source:
City Limits
(online news service providing "in-depth reports and workable policy solutions on the critical issues facing our cities." [notably New York])

NYC’s alternative measure is based on recommendations made by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1995.
* See Measuring Poverty: A New Approach - the complete 1995 NAS report
* See the 1995 NAS report recommendations

Q&A: NYC'S New Take on Poverty
Mark Levitan, the head of the project to create new standards, explains his work
November 19, 2007
The move to alter New York’s measurement of who is poor is a project led by Mark Levitan, who works at the city’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO). The CEO was established by Mayor Bloomberg in Dec. 2006 to implement antipoverty programs recommended by his Commission for Economic Opportunity in its Sept. 2006 report, “Increasing Opportunity and Reducing Poverty in New York City” (PDF file - 931K, 52 pages). With its $150 million annual budget, the CEO has designed and implemented several new initiatives, including Opportunity NYC, Access NYC and others. CEO staff monitor and evaluate the programs to track how effectively they are reducing poverty in New York City.
Source:
City Limits

Related links:

Frequently Asked Questions Related to Poverty Guidelines and Poverty
February, 2007
[U.S. Department of Health & Human Services]

Further Resources on Poverty Measurement, Poverty Lines, and Their History
[U.S. Department of Health & Human Services]

U.S. Census Bureau - Poverty Home Page

U.S. Census Bureau - History of the Poverty Measure

NOTE:
The Congressional hearings referred to in the first article above cover many topics relating to (U.S.) poverty and social welfare policy.
For example, click the link above to access any of the following hearings (and many more):
(1-24-2007) Hearing on the Economic and Societal Costs of Poverty
(1-31-2007) Hearing on Economic Challenges Facing Middle Class Families
(2-13-2007) Hearing on Economic Opportunity and Poverty in America
(3-6-2007) Hearing on Recent Changes to Programs Assisting Low-Income Families
(3-15-2007) Hearing on Increasing Economic Security for American Workers
(4-26-2007) Hearing on Proposals for Reducing Poverty
(8-1-2007) Hearing on Measuring Poverty in America, and
(9-6-2007) Hearing on Fair and Equitable Tax Policy for America’s Working Families.

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

Wal-Mart Christmas Ornaments Made Under
Illegal Sweatshop Conditions in China
Press Release
December 12, 2007
Wal-Mart Christmas ornament workers toil 10 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, going for months without a day off. Many workers earn as little as 26 cents an hour—just half of China’s legal minimum wage. Workers handle toxic chemicals without protective gear. Some children as young as 12 worked in the factory. At a press conference at Rockefeller Center in New York City, in the shadow of the Christmas Tree, the country’s leading labor rights activist, National Labor Committee director Charles Kernaghan, released a 58-page report, documenting the horrific conditions under which Wal-Mart’s Christmas ornaments are made in China. The release includes unprecedented photographs and video footage of child laborers and workers in the Spray Painting department handling potentially dangerous chemicals without the most rudimentary safety gear. The National Labor Committee’s report, “A Wal-Mart Christmas Brought to You from a Sweatshop in China” provides a rare inside view of the giant Guanzhou Huanya ornaments factory in Guangdong, where every single labor law, not to mention internationally recognized worker rights standards, are being grossly violated on a daily basis.

Complete report:

A Wal-Mart Christmas
Brought to you from a Sweatshop in China
December 2007
Executive summary (HTML)
Complete report (PDF - 4.1MB, 60 pages)
Source:
National Labor Committee (New York) - "Putting a human face on the global economy"

- Go to the Banks and Business Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bookmrk3.htm

APO Weekly Briefing ===> the content of this link changes each week
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...

Recent APO content:

Welfare expenditure Australia 2005-06
Posted 13-12-2007
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
This report provides estimates of welfare expenditure in Australia for the period 1998-99 to 2005-06. In 2005-06 this expenditure totalled $90 billion, $61 billion being for cash benefits and the remaining $29 billion for welfare services.

Putting children first: improving responses to family homelessness
Posted 13-12-2007
Michael Horn and Lucinda Jordan / Melbourne Citymission
This project has sought to document the extent of family homelessness and the capacity of SAAP services to meet the current needs of families.

What are low ability workers to do when unskilled jobs disappear?
Part 1: Why more education and training isn’t the answer
Posted 13-12-2007
Peter Saunders / Centre for Independent Studies
Employers are reporting shortages of skilled labour, yet unskilled workers are sitting idle on welfare. Many commentators think both problems can be solved by more education and training, but this paper disputes this. The solution to the skills shortage lies in policies like delayed retirement and increased female participation in the workforce. The solution to unskilled joblessness lies in generating more unskilled employment argues Peter Saunders.

Working hours: a global comparison
Posted 09-12-2007
Robert Half International
This survey concludes that Australians continue to work longer hours and the great Aussie weekend may be a thing of the past. The report draws on the findings from an international workplace survey conducted in spring 2007.
[NOTE: this week's APO briefing includes links to two more studies on working hours in Australia.]

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Subscribe!
Sign up to receive APO's Weekly Briefing by email --- just enter your email address in the box on the left-hand side of the home page of the APO website (the link below).

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.
NOTE: the APO home page includes links to the five most popular reports on the APO website, and this list is updated each week.

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

From the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)

12 December 2007 - CRINMAIL 941
Special Edition on the 'World Fit for Children' Follow-Up Event
* Quotes from the event
* Report from Children's Forum and Ombudsmen meeting
* Day One from the 'World Fit For Children' follow-up event [report]
* Day two from the 'World Fit For Children' follow-up event [report]
**OTHER NEWS**
**QUIZ**
Related link:
Canada's National Action Plan for Children (Public Health Agency of Canada)

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 200+ 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.

Source:
CRINMAIL(incl. subscription info)
[ Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) ]

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

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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

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In closing...