Canadian Social Research Newsletter
November 18 , 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 1834 subscribers.

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. Three-Year Impacts of the Community Employment Innovation Project (Social Research and Demonstration Corporation) - November 16
2. Making the Connections: Using Public Reporting to Track the Progress on Child Care Services in Canada (Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada) - November 16
3. Liberal Anti- Poverty Plan reactions (Relentlessly Progressive Economics / Caledon Institute of Social Policy) - November 15
4. What's new from the Canadian Council on Social Development - November 15:
---Stats & Facts: Economic Security
--- Jason Mogus on the Web
--- CCSD’s annual report for 2006-2007
--- Jordan’s Principle
5. Housing and Homelessness : announcements and events in 2006 and 2007 (Caledon Institute of Social Policy)
6. Big box buying spree adds urgency to national child care debate (Canadian Union of Public Employees) - November 15
7. Toronto: Hungry City>Make Your Mark! (Daily Bread Food Bank Blog)
8. McGuinty can learn from success of Britain's Blair (War on Poverty - Toronto Star series) - October 31
9. 2006-2007 Annual Report (Saskatchewan Community Resources)
10. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Registered apprenticeship training programs, 2005 - November 15
--- Leading indicators / Current economic conditions - November 14
--- Work stress among health care providers - November 13
11. The debate over Canada's poverty line (CBC News Online) - November 12
12. Growing credit debt is crushing Canadians: study (Credit Canada / Capital One) - November 13
13. British Columbia : 'Welfare to Work' Didn't Work, BC Libs sat on own report showing no real gains. (TheTyee.ca) - November 12
14. News Releases from Status of Women Canada:
--- Government of Canada Announces New Call for Proposals for Women's Projects - November 1
--- The Government of Canada Supports Women Through the Transition 55 Project - November 8
15. What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - November 16

International Content

16. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
17. Selected content from CERC Bulletin N°140 (Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris) - November 12
--- (U.S.) Consumption and income poverty for those 65 and over - September 2007
--- (U.K.) Measuring poverty in Britain as a multi-dimensional concept : 1991 to 2003 - 2007
--- (U.S.) A profile of the working poor : 2005 (2007)
--- (France) Services for the homeless: A report for the European Commission (2007)
--- (Europe) Approaches to flexicurity : EU models (2007)
--- (Sweden) Strategic competition in Swedish local spending on childcare, schooling and care for the elderly (October 2007)
18. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing : Selected recent content:
--- Dynamics of work-limitation and work in Australia - Posted 15-11
--- Election 2007: Family policy - Posted 15-11
--- Election 2007: Indigenous policy - unfinished business - Posted 15-11
--- Public housing: shifting client profiles and public housing revenues - Posted 15-11
--- Health at a glance 2007: OECD indicators - Posted 15-11
--- Challenges in health and health care for Australia - Posted 13-11
--- The coming crisis of Medicare: What the Intergenerational Reports should say, but don’t, about health and ageing - Posted 09-11
19. November 15, 2007 - CRINMAIL 933 (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)
20. Evidence of climate change : 'unequivocal' or "vapours"? (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) - November 17, 18

What's new from the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) :

Interim Results From Major Study Show That Community-Based Work Can Improve Skills and Social Capital back
November 16, 2007
Can community-based employment help the unemployed develop their transferable skills and social capital? A major Canadian study released today by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) reveals promising results in that respect. "Improving skills, networks, and livelihoods through community-based work: Three-year impacts of the Community Employment Innovation Project" presents interim results from the Community Employment Innovation Project (CEIP), a program designed to encourage the longer-term employability of participants while supporting local community development in regions of continuing high unemployment.

Complete report:

Improving Skills, Networks, and Livelihoods through Community-Based Work:
Three-Year Impacts of the Community Employment Innovation Project (PDF file - 750K, 181 pages)
October 2007

Executive Summary (PDF file - 985K, 16 pages)

SRDC Publications by theme

Source:
Community Employment Innovation Project
...a project evaluating the effects of community-based employment in the social economy in Cape Breton on the employability of EI and income assistance recipients and on the five participating communities themselves

Other SRDC projects:

* Child Care Pilot Project
...a research project that will evaluate the impacts of a preschool program on the children’s linguistic and cultural development, and their readiness to learn

* learn$ave
...a national demonstration of matched savings accounts for poor families to encourage learning activities and micro-enterprise development

* Access to Post-secondary Education Pilot Projects
...pilot projects to determine the best way to increase access to post-secondary education in Canada in three Canadian provinces

* The Self-Sufficiency Project
...a test of temporary earnings supplements as a "make work pay" strategy to support the transition of lone parents from welfare to work

* The Earnings Supplement Project
...a recent type of a financial incentive in the form of temporary "earnings insurance" as a way of hastening the re-employment of Employment Insurance (EI) beneficiaries

- Go to the Social Research Organizations (II) in Canada page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/research2.htm

Making the Connections: Using Public Reporting
to Track the Progress on Child Care Services in Canada
November 16, 2007
* Full Report (PDF file - 559K, 67 pages)
* Executive Summary (PDF file - 49K, 3 pages)
"(...) Our project findings show that few governments have clear public reporting that allows the public to easily track progress throughout the required reporting period (2000/01 through 2005/06). None meet all of the performance and reporting requirements outlined in the FAT Agreements. (...) [Therefore] in order to promote clear public reporting that supports the public in tracking the ongoing progress in child care services, we have one overarching recommendation: FAT governments should expedite the implementation of key public performance reporting guidelines"

NOTE Clicking on the title of the report opens a page that includes links to the complete study and executive summary, to the individual sections of the report and its two appendices, and to information about child care expenditures in each province and territory and by the Government of Canada.

Source:
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada

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

Mr. Dion’s Anti- Poverty Plan
Posted by Andrew Jackson
November 15
I’m a big fan of setting clear and attainable targets and timetables to eliminate poverty, and applaud last week’s Liberal Party commitment to reduce the number of those living in poverty by 30% and the numbers of children living in poverty by 50% within 5 years. Clear targets and timetables have recently been called for by the National Council of Welfare and by Campaign 2000 with the laudable aim of keeping governments’ feet to the fire, and have clearly played a significant role in sustaining tangible reductions in poverty in the UK and other countries, as detailed in a good new Campaign 2000 policy paper.
Source:
Relentlessly Progressive Economics:
Commentary on Canadian economics and public policy
[A Blog of the Progressive Economics Forum]

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

Caledon Response to Liberal
Poverty Strategy (PDF file - 264K, 9 pages)
by Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman,
Michael Mendelson and Ed Tamagno
November 2007
"(...)The renewed focus on poverty is long overdue. Strong and explicit federal leadership, along with cooperation with the provinces and territories in several key areas, are essential to attain significant reductions in poverty. But real progress will not be possible unless sound policy measures are employed to achieve this crucial goal.
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

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

What's new from the Canadian Council on Social Development:

November 15, 2007
Stats & Facts: Economic Security
Chock full of information about income, spending habits and poverty among Canadian families, the Economic Security Fact Sheets are the latest in our Stats & Facts series. Along with the earlier fact sheets on demographics, health, education and families, these latest fact sheets provide a wealth of useful statistical data and analysis about the realities of life in Canada.

Jason Mogus on the Web
Jason Mogus was the keynote speaker at the CCSD Annual General Meeting last month. He spoke about the ways in which the web is changing, and how non-profits can benefit from that change, providing they’re prepared to change with it. His speaking notes and an audio recording of his presentation are available on our website.

CCSD’s annual report for 2006-2007 is now available.

Jordan’s Principle
CCSD supports Jordan’s Principle, which urges a child-first approach to the resolution of jurisdictional disputes involving the care of First Nations children.

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

Policy Area: Housing and Homelessness (PDF file - 124K, 16 pages)
June 2007
Recommended reading for all housing/homelessness researchers --- this is a detailed inventory, for 2006 and 2007, of federal, provincial/territorial and some municipal program and policy announcements and events in the areas of housing and homelessness
Source:
Social Policy Record
NOTE: The Social Policy Record is a section of the Caledon website that researchers would be well-advised to bookmark and to visit often. The only content to date (11/07) is the above link to housing and homelessness announcements and events, but here's how the Social Policy Record is described on the site:
"This web-based publication will help achieve three core objectives:
* To document major policies and programs in several areas including income security; early childhood development and child care; labour market adjustment, training and employment; housing and homelessness; and disability supports. [bolding added]
* To track significant changes to these policies and programs over time. These changes will be presented by both subject and jurisdiction.
* To provide the foundation for analyzing social policy trends and the effectiveness over time of the wide-ranging responses to social needs."

Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy

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

Big box buying spree adds urgency to national child care debate
November 15, 2007
VANCOUVER – With the Campbell Liberals refusing to stop the spread of big box child care across British Columbia, parents and child care activists are looking for action. Australian multinational child care corporation ABC Learning is seeking to expand into Canada by purchasing child care centres, starting in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta.
[TIP: there are 13 links to related resources and websites in the right-hand margin of the page.]
Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees

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

Hungry City> Make Your Mark!
Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank Blog
Launched in June 2007
"(...) It is time to take the next steps in the fight against hunger and that is where Hungry City> Make Your Mark comes in. It is also where you come in. We are armed with information and we have realistic policy solutions outlined in A New Deal to Fight Hunger. Now, we need to come together for real political change. You are invited to post your concerns about hunger and poverty in your community on this blog. Keep visiting hungrycity.ca to see where people stand on this important issue. Daily Bread Food Bank is committed to ending the need for food banks and we are excited to work with our community and start mobilizing to have our voices heard. No one should go hungry in our great city, province or country. I’ve made my mark…have you?" [Excerpt from the Hungry City Blog Welcome Message, June 5/07)
Source:
Daily Bread Food Bank

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

War on Poverty (Toronto Star series):
McGuinty can learn from success of Britain's Blair
October 31, 2007
By Lisa Harker
So Dalton McGuinty's new government has made a commitment to develop a poverty reduction plan. Ontario's anti-poverty campaigners would be forgiven for celebrating: getting poverty onto the political agenda is no small feat. But now the real work begins. Premier McGuinty's pledge is an empty one if he fails to answer some critical questions: How? What? And when?
Source:
The Toronto Star

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

Saskatchewan Community Resources
(Dept responsible for welfare)

2006-2007 Annual Report (PDF file - 816K, 33 pages)
Source:
Saskatchewan Community Resources

- Go to the Saskatchewan Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/skbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Key Provincial/Territorial Welfare Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/welfare.htm

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

November 15, 2007
Registered apprenticeship training programs, 2005
Registrations for apprenticeship training programs increased in all major trade groups in 2005, with the largest gains occurring in the building construction trades group, thanks to Canada's construction boom. In addition, women accounted for almost 1 out of every 10 people who registered in these programs.

November 14, 2007
- Leading indicators, October 2007
- Current economic conditions

November 13, 2007
Study: Work stress among health care providers, 2003
Nearly half of all health care providers in 2003 suffered a high degree of work stress, with nurses, doctors and lab technicians reporting the highest levels, according to a new study published today in Health Reports.

Complete study:

Work stress among health care providers
By Kathryn Wilkins
November 2007
HTML version
PDF version (148K, 4 pages)
According to data from the 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), nearly one in three employed Canadians, about 5.1 million, reported that most days at work were “quite” or “extremely” stressful.

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

The debate over Canada's poverty line
November 12, 2007
By Armina Ligaya
Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet even as the nation is in the midst of an economic boom, there are still those who struggle to buy life's necessities. Past and current governments have implemented a myriad of strategies to help the country's most vulnerable. They range from boosting social assistance to, at the more punitive extreme, restricting employment insurance. Debate continues over what's the best approach to eradicate poverty, assuming that is in fact a reachable goal.
Source:
CBC News Online

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

Growing credit debt is crushing Canadians: study
November 13, 2007
A new study of Canadians' credit debt finds that a whopping 25 per cent owe between $10,000 and $40,000, and 28 per cent don't even know the interest rate they pay on their main credit card. The report by Credit Canada and Capitol One was timed for release during their Credit Education Week, (November 13-16) and is designed to raise awareness of good financial management.
Source:
CTV

< I guess it's in the spirit of tightening up and cutting back that the nice folks at Credit Canada and Capital One have decided that a week is now four days... >

- Go to the Asset-Based Social Policies Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/assets.htm

British Columbia

'Welfare to Work' Didn't Work
BC Libs sat on own report showing no real gains.
By Bruce Wallace
November 12, 2007
The B.C. government claims to be doing a great job of moving people off welfare into better lives. But its own welfare ministry, the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, compiled a report in February 2007, titled Outcomes of Those Leaving Assistance, that summarizes new research contradicting the government's claims of success. And the government waited eight months to release that report, until a reporter surfaced its existence just last month.
[HINT: scroll to the bottom of the article for links to two related articles and a series on welfare, all from 2004 and 2005.]
Source:
TheTyee.ca

Related link:

Outcomes of those Leaving Assistance (PDF file - 64K, 6 pages)
February 2007 (posted on the Ministry website October/07)
"Since the introduction of British Columbia Employment and Assistance (BCEA) in April 2002, the employable income assistance (IA) caseload has declined by 53,850 cases or 70 percent. What makes this decline even more significant is that it followed a 47 percent decline in the employable caseload over the preceding six years, following the introduction of BC Benefits in January 1996."
Source:
Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance

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

News Releases from Status of Women Canada:

Government of Canada Announces New Call for Proposals for Women's Projects
November 1, 2007
OTTAWA - The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, today announced a second call for proposals to solicit funding from the Women's Community Fund of Status of Women Canada. The new call invites eligible organizations to access funding from the overall $15.3 million Women's Program budget of Status of Women Canada.

The Government of Canada Supports Women Through the Transition 55 Project
November 8, 2007
QUÉBEC CITY - On behalf of The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, Luc Harvey, Member of Parliament for Louis-Hébert, today announced funding to the Nouveau départ national for a project to assist women aged 55 to 65 with workforce re-entry and adaptation.

Source:
Status of Women Canada

- Go to the Canadian Government Sites about Women's Social Issues page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/women.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.
Here's the content of the latest issue of this bulletin.

For more information about this service, including subscription information,
see http://www.childcarecanada.org

16-Nov-07

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

MAKING THE CONNECTIONS: USING PUBLIC REPORTING TO TRACK THE PROGRESS ON CHILD CARE SERVICES IN CANADA
Report from the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada "analyzes the potential for public reporting to provide effective accountability for child care funding".
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111446

CALEDON RESPONSE TO LIBERAL POVERTY STRATEGY
Report from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy offers alternative reforms to strengthen the the Liberals' recent poverty strategy.
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111445

EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION IN THE GOLDEN STATE: PUBLICLY FUNDED PROGRAMS SERVING CALIFORNIA’S PRE-SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN
Report from the Rand Corporation finds that the California's
"current system of publicly funded early care and education
programs are not designed to maximize the child development and
school readiness."
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111454

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

Nowhere to go for hundreds of children as child care centres close [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 16 Nov 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111456

Watchdog criticizes system for tracking child care funding [CA]
Ottawa Citizen, 16 Nov 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111440

An education system for families, not shareholders, would be real reform [AU]
The Age, 15 Nov 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111442

Changes planned for child care subsidy [CA-YT]
Whitehorse Daily Star, 14 Nov 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111444

Making child care count is not just about cost [AU]
Sydney Morning Herald, 13 Nov 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111441

MLA tables motion about 'crisis in childcare' across province [CA-BC]
Campbell River Courier-Islander, 9 Nov 07
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=111443

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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). ===> 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.

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

This week's issues of Poverty Dispatch:

November 15, 2007
* All Kids Health Insurance Program - Illinois
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* SCHIP Citizenship Requirement and Prenatal Care - Louisiana
* Massachusetts Health Care Program and Medicaid Cuts
* Medicaid Providers and Unpaid Taxes
* Racial Bias in Foster Care
* Payments to Foster Parents - Wisconsin
* African American Families and Income Mobility
* Voter Identification Law - Indiana
* Households and Rising Heating Oil Costs - Vermont
* Survey: Attitudes about Homelessness - Denver, CO
* Payday Lending Alternatives - Milwaukee, WI
* Absence of Payday Lenders - North Carolina
* No Child Left Behind and Low-income Schools
* No Child Left Behind and State Testing Standards
* Abstinence-only Sex Education - Virginia

November 12, 2007
* Kids Count Report - Kentucky
* Poverty and Health Disparities - West Virginia
* Clinics Offering Medicaid and WIC - Detroit, MI
* Medicaid Reimbursement to Health Care Providers
* Report: Utilization of Homeless Services - Hawaii
* Editorial: Chronic Homelessness - Minnesota
* Affordable Housing and Renters
* Households and Rising Heating Oil Costs - Maine
* Payday Lending and Rate Caps - New Hampshire
* Minimum Wage Increase - Arizona
* Paid Sick Leave

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.)

- 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

Selected content from CERC Bulletin N°140 - November 12, 2007
(Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris)
Click on the bulletin link above to access all studies and reports included in this Bulletin.

. (U.S.) Consumption and income poverty for those 65 and over, (PDF file, 31 pages) B. D. Meyer and J. X. Sullivan, Harris School, Chicago, Working paper, n° 07-21, September (2007).
Summary:
This paper examines income and consumption based measures of poverty for those 65 and over between 1972 and 2004. This study contributes to the existing literature on poverty in several ways. First, we construct consumption based measures of poverty that improve upon measures used in previous studies.(...) Second, we provide estimates of consumption based poverty for those 65 and over using the most recent data through 2004. Third, we examine the effect on poverty trends of alternative price indices, equivalence scales, and resource sharing units (the family or household). Fourth, in addition to poverty rates, which focus on the cumulative distribution function at a single point, we also study extreme poverty, near poverty and poverty gaps in order to examine more fully the trends in well-being of older individuals.

. (U.K.) Measuring poverty in Britain as a multi-dimensional concept : 1991 to 2003, (PDF file, 32 pages), M. Tomlinson, R. Walker and G. Williams, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Oxford (2007).
Summary:
While poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multi-dimensionality and facilitate comparison of trends over time. Structural Equation Modelling appears to offer a solution to this conundrum and is used to exploit the British Household Panel Study to create a multidimensional measure of poverty. The analysis reveals that the decline in poverty in Britain between 1991 and 2003 was driven by falls in material deprivation, but more especially by reduced financial stress particularly during the early 1990s. The limitations and potential of the new approach are critically discussed

. (U.S.) A profile of the working poor : 2005, (PDF file, 14 pages), Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, Report, n°1001 (2007)

. (France) Services for the homeless in France : Description, official statistics, client recording of information, A report for the European Commission, (PDF file, 94 pages), M. Marpsat, Ined, Paris, Documents de travail, n° 149 (2007).

. (Europe) Approaches to flexicurity : EU models,(PDF file, 85 pages), P. Kaia and R. Eamets, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin (2007).

. (Sweden) Strategic competition in Swedish local spending on childcare, schooling and care for the elderly, (K. Edmark, Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation, Stockholm, IFAU working paper, n° 2007-22, October, 43 p., (2007).
Summary:
This study tests for strategic competition in public spending on childcare and primary education, and care for the elderly, using panel data on Swedish municipalities over 1996-2005. The high degree of decentralization in the organization of the public sector implies that Swedish data is highly suitable for this type of study. The study is not limited to interactions in the same type of expenditure, but also allows for effects across expenditures. The results give no robust support for the hypothesis that municipalities react on the spending policy of neighbouring municipalities in the decision on own spending on care of the elderly, childcare and education.

Online Information Service
Information and online resources organized under five themes: Poverty * Social minima * In-work benefits * Minimum wage * Unemployment and return to work .

Source:
CERC Bulletin - links to all CERC semi-monthly bulletins
Subscribe - To be informed of CERC activities and to receive the bulletin
[ Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris
Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale - CERC [version française]

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

Selected content from the latest APO Weekly Briefing:

Dynamics of work-limitation and work in Australia
By Umut Oguzoglu
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
Posted 15-11-2007
This paper examines the impact of self-reported work-limitation on the employment of the Australian working age population. Five consecutive waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey are used to investigate this relationship.

Election 2007: Family policy
By Janet Stanley and Brian Howe
Australian Review of Public Affairs
Posted 15-11-2007
Australia is still a country where life chances are unequal. This damages not only those children born into disadvantage, but society as a whole. Social policy reform is needed to improve the capabilities of disadvantaged and socially excluded Australian families. Janet Stanley and Brian Howe propose two key measures: structural adjustments around employment opportunities, and a considerable scaling up of secondary prevention programs which facilitate the well-being of children.

Election 2007: Indigenous policy - unfinished business
By Megan Davis
Australian Review of Public Affairs
Posted 15-11-2007
Indigenous peoples' support for and emphasis on the "rights agenda" has been shaped by history. The political and constitutional history of Australia is indelibly connected to the contemporary problems of Indigenous Australia: insecurity of rights and policy experiments. It is only when we negotiate unfinished business together, with nothing ruled out and ready to compromise, that we can move forward together as a nation.

Public housing: shifting client profiles and public housing revenues
By Jon Hall and Mike Berry
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
Posted 15-11-2007
This report documents and quantifies the recent historical impact of changing client profiles in South Australia and Victoria.

Health at a glance 2007: OECD indicators
Posted 15-11-2007
By Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Progress in the prevention and treatment of diseases has contributed to remarkable improvements in life expectancy and quality of life in OECD countries in recent decades. At the same time, spending on health care continues to climb, consuming an ever-increasing share of national income: health expenditure now accounts for 9% of GDP on average in OECD countries, up from just over 5% in 1970.

Challenges in health and health care for Australia
By Bruce K Armstrong, James A Gillespie, Stephen R Leeder, George L Rubin and Lesley M Russell
The Medical Journal of Australia
Posted 13-11-2007
Our health system is stretched by an ageing population, the growing burden of chronic illness, and the increasingly outmoded organisation of our health services. Inequalities in health between our most and least advantaged citizens persist, and are the sentinels that remind us that there is no room for complacency, or for inertia in reforming our health care system.

The coming crisis of Medicare: What the Intergenerational Reports should say, but don’t, about health and ageing
By Jeremy Sammut
The Centre for Independent Studies
Posted 09-11-2007
This report outlines the combined impact of demographic trends toward ageing and the increasing costs of new high-tech medical technology on healthcare supply and demand in the future. As well as the implications for intergenerational conflict as the baby boomers begin to expect Generations X and Y to bare the tax burden for their care.

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

From the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)

15 November 2007 - CRINMAIL 933
* SERBIA: Torment not Treatment: Serbia’s Segregation and Abuse of Children and Adults with Disabilities [publication]
* WEST AFRICA: Region's children worse off despite legislation [news]
* UNITED KINGDOM: Plans to X-ray child asylum seekers attacked [news]
* CZECH REPUBLIC: Govt guilty of forcing Roma children into special schools [news]
* SWITZERLAND: Master in Children's Rights module [course]
* EMPLOYMENT - ActionAid [job postings]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
**QUIZ**

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, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the launch of the EURONET Website.

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

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

There is no Canadian Social Research Links page on links to resources about climate change and global warming, because the focus of this site is the social condition.
We took the earth for granted for too long, and now the climate has become part of the issue.
If we can't control our deleterious effect on the planet, no amount of progressive social policy will save us.

Evidence of climate change 'unequivocal': UN report
November 17, 2007
Climate change could have far-reaching and "irreversible" consequences if more action is not taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a UN scientific panel warned in a report released Saturday. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its report that evidence of climate change is "unequivocal." It said the trend could lead to "abrupt" changes to the planet, cause human suffering and threaten some species with extinction. (...) The panel, issuing its fourth and final report of the year, said carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming are rising faster than they were a decade ago. Despite the dire warnings, the report also contains the message that there are "real and affordable ways to deal with climate change"...
Source:
CBC News

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- includes links to the first three reports of the panel as well as a "Summary for Policymakers" (see below) of the draft final report
- also incl. a link to the IPCC Twenty-Seventh Session (Valencia, 12-17 November 2007), where the final report was part of the agenda
[The IPCC Home page is where you'll find a link to the final report

Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report ("AR4") - (PDF file - 6.4MB, 23 pages)

But - and there's always a but...

US delegates say dangers of climate change unclear
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States believes there is no clear scientific definition of the dangers of climate change although it recognizes urgent action is needed, a US conference delegation said.
Source:
Google News

Environmentalism gets the vapours
By David Warren
November 18, 2007
"...I touched this last week on the strange conceit of the environmentalists, who are making an international campaign of "global warming"[...which] as they ought to know from common sense, is as likely as the last few environmentalist scares to prove a crock (nuclear winter, the population bomb, global famine).Why do they dwell on the unproven long-term effects of the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide -- which is not itself a pollutant, but a necessary condition for life?"
Source:
Ottawa Citizen
NOTE: I couldn't resist throwing in the pontifications of David Warren, the Ottawa Citizen's outspoken George Dubya groupie, on this subject. He's one of the other social/fiscal conservatives who write for the Citizen, and he's just as likely as a John Robson to make me use the poo-poo word in a newsletter from time to time. Warren trots out the same arguments as the U.S.delegation about the IPCC's reports - that (1) there's no generally-accepted definition of exactly what constitutes global warming, and (2) the U.S. isn't anywhere near as bad as China and India. Both arguments are intended to deflect attention from the IPCC report.

Why, Warren asks, do those conceited environmentalists worry about an accumulation of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, when carbon dioxide is not itself a pollutant, but a necessary condition for life? As any fifth grader can tell you, Mr. Warren, water is just as necessary a condition of life as carbon dioxide --- too much water will drown you, and too much carbon dioxide will choke the earth and all its inhabitants.
[...and too much David Warren will make me gag.]

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

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WORD OF THE WEEK:

"MYSELF"

Repeat after me:

"Myself" is not a synonym for "me".

The word "myself" is a reflexive pronoun.
Use "myself" ONLY if the word "I" comes before it in the same sentence.
For example:

1. When the subject and object of the sentence are the same:
*** I know myself.
*** I saw myself in the mirror.

2. When you want to emphasize, or call more attention to the subject of the sentence:
** I did the job myself.
** I ate all the cake myself.

Incorrect usage of "myself":

For more information, please contact myself.
<Argh.>

- Go to the Rants page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/rants.htm

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HINT: click on a teardrop-shaped icon on the map to open a popup window with general country info PLUS (by clicking the "Data" and "News" tabs at the top of the popup) health and economic indicators and related news items and a "country Page" link with more resources.

Microsoft Substitutes - free!