Canadian Social Research Newsletter
July 22, 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 1764 subscribers.

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. An Update to TD Economics' 2002 Report on the Greater Toronto Area Economy (TD Economics) - July 17
2. Québec : Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion (English home page) - Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale
3. What's new from the Institut de la statistique du Québec
--- Québec Handy Numbers, 2007 edition - May 2007
--- The Life Course of Birth Cohorts and the Elderly: Today and Tomorrow - June 2007
4. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Life After the High-tech Downturn: Permanent Layoffs and Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers - July 20
--- Consumer Price Index, June 2007 - July 18
--- Crime Statistics in Canada, 2006 - July 18
--- Leading indicators, June 2007 - July 18
--- 2006 Census: Age and sex - July 17
5. Ontario : Prosperity gap weakens province (Toronto Star) - July 16

International Content

6. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
7. The Medicaid Resource Book (Kaiser Family Foundation)
8. Government Social Research Bulletin (Government of the United Kingdom) - July 19
9. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - recent content (various sources) - July 19
10. CRINMAIL #898 (Child Rights Information Network) - July 17

Have a great week!

Enhancing GTA standard of living
requires concerted effort: TD Economics (PDF file - 19K, 3 pages)
July 17, 2007
Press release
(TORONTO) A report published today by TD Economics states the relative decline of the Greater Toronto Area’s standard of living against competing jurisdictions during the past five years poses a serious threat to the region’s future prosperity (www.td.com/economics). Cohesive and coordinated action is required by all regional players, but future policies must be underpinned by efficiency and innovation rather than public money.
Among the GTA’s challenges, co-authors Don Drummond and Derek Burleton cite:
· The region’s eroding competitive position due to economic forces such as the rising dollar;
· The limited flexibility of the City of Toronto due to its structural deficit; and
· The rising number of low-income families among newcomers and the self-perpetuating cycles of poverty.

Complete report:
An Update to TD Economics' 2002 Report on the Greater Toronto Area Economy (PDF file - 301K, 33 pages)
July 2007

Executive summary (PDF file - 440K, 3 pages)

Link to the 2002 GTA Report:

Canada's Primary Economic Locomotive in Need of Repairs (PDF file - 673K, 37 pages)
May 2002

Source:
TD Economics (<=== this page includes links to more TD Economics reports)

Related link:

TD urges social investment for TO's "deep pools of poverty"
July 17, 2007
By Michael Shapcott
Toronto and the surrounding Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are "a powerful economic locomotive which produces nearly one-fifth of the entire nation's GDP", along with many other economic advantages, according to a new report from TD Economics called "Canada's Primary Economic Locomotive in Need of Repairs". But the economists working for one of Canada's largest banks warn that despite the economic good times, "deep pools of poverty persist - a problem that is exacerbated by an inadequate supply of social housing".
Source:
The Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

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

Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion (English home page)
[ version française du site ]
The Centre d’étude sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion (CEPE) is an observation, research and discussion centre entrusted with providing reliable and rigourous information, notably of a statistical nature, on poverty and social exclusion issues. Created within the context of the Act to combat poverty and social exclusion, the CEPE acts under the aegis of the Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MESS) and is managed in collaboration with a steering committee composed of members working in the academic research or government sector, or working with people who are experiencing poverty or social exclusion.
- incl. links to:
* Introduction to the CEPE * Statistics * Research activities * Publications * Lexicon * Useful links

Related links - see National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion

- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm
- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

What's new from the Institut de la statistique du Québec:

NOTA : pour accéder à la version française des documents ci-dessous, SVP voir la page de liens vers les sites en français du Québec :
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

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Québec Handy Numbers, 2007 edition (PDF file - 1.4MB, 57 pages)
March 2007
- includes statistics on :
* Territory *Population (total, average age, population movements, marital status, landed immigrants, native language, residential environment, Census Metropolitan Areas, Cities of 100,000 inhabitants and over) *Living Conditions (families, households, dwellings, welfare, health and social services, education, culture and communications, labour market, unions, income, consumption) * Regions at a glance

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Vie des générations et personnes âgées : aujourd'hui et demain - Volume 2
(The Life Course of Birth Cohorts and the Elderly: Today and Tomorrow)
June 2007
NOTE: this report is available only in French.
Read the press release below for more details in English.
HTML version - incl. links to PDF files for each chapter
PDF version - (4.8MB, 403 pages)

Related link:

Seniors: encouraging trends
Press Release
Québec, June 27, 2007 – Five main observations stem from a new study conducted by the Institut de la statistique du Québec:
* the contribution of people 65 years of age or older to the funding of public expenditures is growing;
* the rise in social expenditure per person has been modest since 1991;
* the standard of living of seniors is improving from several standpoints;
* certain groups will remain vulnerable; and
* changes are to be anticipated in the sociodemographic characteristics of the elderly population.
These findings are from the study entitled Vie des générations et personnes âgées : aujourd’hui et demain (the life course of birth cohorts and the elderly: today and tomorrow), Volume 2.

Link to volume 1 of this study:

Vie des générations et personnes âgées : aujourd'hui et demain - Volume 1
Juin 2004
The five chapters of this publication broach several of the main components of living conditions of tomorrow’s elderly:
* demographic characteristics and demographic aging
* mortality, causes of death and health status
* education and acquisition of knowledge
* consumption
* sources of income
* Highlights of Volume 1 (English, PDF file - 42K, 7 pages)

Interprovincial Comparisons
The statistics presented in the "Interprovincial Comparisons" section are the joint effort of the Institut de la statistique du Québec and the Secrétariat aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes. The various tables, updated on an ongoing basis, provide statistics on the provinces, the territories, and Canada on topics like population, immigration, Canadian francophonie, the economy and legislatures. Particular attention is given to demography, manpower, interprovincial and international trade, investment and public finance. Lastly, the main stakeholders in intergovernmental relations are also named.

See also:
Databank of Official Statistics on Québec
(See "Living Conditions and Well-being" for relevant stats)

Source:
Institut de la statistique du Québec (English home page)

- Go to the Québec Links (English) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qce.htm
- Rendez-vous à la page de liens de recherche sociale au Québec: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/qcbkmrk.htm

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

July 20, 2007
Perspectives on Labour and Income, July 2007 online edition released
The July 2007 online edition of Perspectives on Labour and Income, released today, features the article "Life after high tech." (...) The article is based on the research paper, "Life after the High-tech Downturn: Permanent Layoffs and Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers", also released today as part of the Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series

Article:
Life after high tech
During the 1990s, the high-tech sector expanded at a much greater rate than the rest of the economy, its employment eventually representing 4.5% of the workforce in 2000. Then came the meltdown in 2001 with its headlines of large-scale layoffs...
July 2007

Report:
Life After the High-tech Downturn: Permanent Layoffs and
Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers (545K, 29 pages)
July 2007
by Marc Frenette

Source of the article:
Perspectives on Labour and Income, Vol. 8, no. 7
July 2007
Source:
Perspectives on Labour and Income
[ Back issues of Perspectives on Labour and Income ]
[ Subject index - Perspectives on labour and income ]

July 18, 2007
Consumer Price Index, June 2007
Consumer prices rose by 2.2% in June compared with June 2006, identical to the increases in both April and May. The Bank of Canada's core index rose 2.5%, faster than the 2.2% rise observed in May. On a monthly basis, the all-items index dropped 0.2% while the core index remained unchanged.

Related link:

The Consumer Price Index, June 2007
HTML version
PDF version (438K, 62 pages)
Table of contents:
1. Highlights
2. Analysis
3. Tables
4. Charts
5. Data quality, concepts and methodology
6. Appendices
7. User information
8. Related products

Earlier issues of The Consumer Price Index

July 18, 2007
Crime statistics, 2006
Canada's overall national crime rate, based on incidents reported to police, hit its lowest point in over 25 years in 2006, driven by a decline in non-violent crime.
Source:
Juristat
[ Earlier issues of Juristat ]

Related link:

Crime Statistics in Canada, 2006
By Warren Silver, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
Overview
Highlights
"The national crime rate reached its lowest point in over 25 years in 2006. The crime rate dropped by 3% last year, following a 5% decline in 2005. The crime rate has decreased by about 30% since peaking in 1991, after increasing steadily throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s."
Complete report (PDF file - 188K, 15 pages)

July 18, 2007
Leading indicators, June 2007
The composite index rose 0.2% in June, after a downward-revised increase of 0.4% in May. Only 5 of the 10 components were up, the fewest since last autumn's slowdown, while two were unchanged and three decreased. Manufacturing accounted for most of the slack, while consumer spending remained the bulwark of growth.Canadian Economic Observer
July 2007
HTML version
PDF version (689K, 97 pages)
Table of contents:
* Current economic conditions
* Economic events
* Feature article
* Tables
* Charts
* User information

Earlier issues of the Canadian Economic Observer

July 17, 2007
2006 Census: Age and sex
Statistics Canada today releases data from the 2006 Census on age and sex. A detailed analysis of how the nation's population age structure is changing is available in the online report Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006, by Age and Sex, 2006 Census. Data from the census show large-scale changes in the age distribution of Canada's population as a result of population aging. The two main factors behind the population aging are the nation's low fertility rate and increasing life expectancy.
Source:
StatCan Census page

Related links:

Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006, by Age and Sex: Findings
By Laurent Martel and Éric Caron Malenfant, Demography Division
HTML version
PDF version (628K, 46 pages)
Table of contents:
* Highlights
* National portrait
* Provincial/Territorial populations by age and sex
* Subprovincial population dynamics

Age and sex
Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006, by Age and Sex

2006 Community Profiles
These profiles present community-level information from the 2006 Census of Population. Users can search for an area of interest by typing its 'place name' in the box below or by clicking on a province or territory from the list below and selecting the area from a list.
- incl. population & dwelling counts and age characteristics

More StatCan Census geography products

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

Prosperity gap weakens province
July 16, 2007
Excerpt re. anti-poverty strategies and targets:
"(...) In the United Kingdom, the government set a target to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent by 2004, missing it only by a small margin. The target is twice as ambitious for 2010, with a total elimination of child poverty by 2020. With similar goals, Ireland reduced its child poverty rate from 15 per cent in 1994 to less than 5 per cent and aims to hit zero. Here at home, Newfoundland has set a goal to be the province with the least poverty within a decade. And Quebec hopes to have one of the lowest poverty levels among the industrialized nations by 2013.
Source:
The Toronto Star

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

Poverty Dispatch (U.S). ===> the content of this link changes each 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:

July 19, 2007
* Privatization of Social Services - Indiana, Michigan, Texas
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Opinions: State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Medicaid Reform - Florida, South Carolina
* Welfare Laws and Recipients' Additional Children - California
* Racial Disparity in Prisons - Iowa, Wisconsin
* Female Veterans and Homelessness
* Editorial: Cities and Affordable Housing Goals - Minnesota
* Editorial: Income Tax Burden on Working Poor - Georgia
* Opinions: Minimum Wage - Georgia
* School Integration by Income
* Poverty as a Political Campaign Issue

July 16, 2007
* State Children's Health Insurance Program
* Children's Health Insurance Program Coverage - Missouri
* Massachusetts Health Insurance Plan and Hospital Free Care
* Health Care Reform - Maine
* Affordable Housing and the Section 8 Voucher Program
* Welfare Reform - Wisconsin, Arkansas
* Food Assistance Program Error Rate - Maine
* Rising Food Prices and Low-income Families - Arkansas
* Job Training Program - Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH
* Editorial: Foster Care Reform - Maryland
* Prison Overcrowding and Recidivism - California, South Dakota
* No Child Left Behind Reauthorization
* Increasing College Costs and Completion of Degrees - Michigan, California
* Poverty as a Political Campaign Issue

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
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 2006

Poverty Dispatch Digest Archive - weekly digest of dispatches from August 2005 to May 2006
For a few years prior to the creation of this new web page for the Dispatch, I was compiling a weekly digest of the e-mails and redistributing the digest to my mailing list with IRP's permission.
This is my own archive of weekly issues of the digest back to August 2005, and most of them have 50+ links per issue. I'll be deleting this archive from my site gradually, as the links to older articles expire.

- 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

The Medicaid Resource Book
This reference book describes four pivotal aspects of how the Medicaid program operates -- who it covers, what it covers, how it is financed, and how it is administered. It was written to assist the public and policymakers in understanding the structure and operation of the Medicaid program.
Table of Contents : * Medicaid Eligibility * Medicaid Benefits * Medicaid Financing * Medicaid Administration * Medicaid Glossary * Appendix 1: Medicaid Legislative History, 1965-2000 * Appendix 2: Index to Medicaid Statute * Appendix 3: Index to Medicaid Regulations * Appendix 4: Selected Resources from KCMU * Appendix 5: Selected Internet Medicaid Resources

Source:
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and The Uninsured
[ Kaiser Family Foundation ]
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is an independent philanthropy focusing on the major health care issues facing the nation. The Foundation is an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public.

- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

Government Social Research Bulletin (United Kingdom)
The GSR News Bulletin contains the latest GSR news, updates on continuing professional development, forthcoming research, research methods and research funding, GSR research outputs and other research outputs, and a website of the month feature.
- incl. links to the latest issue of the Bulletin and the bulletin archive (back to 2002), along with a link if you wish to subscribe to receive an alert by email whenever the bulletin is updated

Selected content from
the latest Government Social Research Bulletin published/posted on July 19:

United Kingdom : Evidence base review on mobility: Choices and barriers for different social groups
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/scienceresearch/social/evidence_base_review_on_mobility
Source: U.K. Department for Transport

A review of databases and other statistical sources reporting ethnic group and their potential to enhance the evidence base on health promotion
http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/health/ocmo/research/asert/?lang=en
Source: Welsh Assembly Government

Report of the Multidisciplinary Workshop on the influences on children's and young people's food choice within the family setting, held on 9 March 2007
http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/researchinfo/nutritionresearch/foodchoice/multiworkfoodchoicefamchil/
Source: U.K. Food Standards Agency

The bulletin also features other reports like:

Poverty, wealth and place in Britain 1968 to 2005
http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=905
("A look at how the geographical distribution of poor and wealthy people in Britain has changed in the last 40 years.")
Source: Joseph Rowntree Foundation

and

Education and youth transitions in England, Wales and Scotland 1984-2002
http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/ViewAwardPage.aspx?AwardNumber=R000239852
Source: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

News items, for all with an interest in Government Social Research, will continue to be added to
the homepage at http://www.gsr.gov.uk/ and to the Research news page at
http://www.gsr.gov.uk/new_research/index.asp

Subscribe to the Bulletin alert:
http://www.gsr.gov.uk/new_research/email_updates.asp

Current Research News - continuously updated
[archive - back to 2004]

Source:
U.K. Government Social Research
[ HM Treasury website ]

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

APO Weekly Briefing
The content of this page changes each week, and it includes links to a few book/report reviews, about two dozen new reports, a few job ads and 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 - July 19:

The risk society: social democracy in an uncertain world
John Quiggin
Posted 18-07-2007
John Quiggin examines the role of government as the ultimate risk manager. He argues that risk will be the defining concept of the 21st century, the way that globalisation was for the 1990s.
Source:
Centre for Policy Development

Voluntary work, Australia, 2006
Australian Bureau of Statistics
5.2 million people (34%) of the Australian population aged 18 years and over participate in voluntary work, contributing 713 million hours to the community across diverse activities according to this ABS survey. Posted 18-07-2007

Governing work life intersections in Australia over the life course: policy and prospects
Barbara Pocock
Posted 18-07-2007
This paper from the 2007 Australian Social Policy Conference examines the current situation of Australians as they put together their work and larger lives, under a particular policy regime. Pocock argues that an ethic of care needs to accompany Australia's well developed ethic of work, and that new arrangements are necessary to govern their simultaneous realisation.
Source:
Centre for Work+Life, University of South Australia

Mothers and fathers with young children: paid employment, caring and wellbeing
Jennifer Baxter, Matthew Gray, Michael Alexander, Lyndall Strazdins and Michael Bittman
Posted 16-07-2007
This paper examines how the use of child care, the time parents spend with children, and parental wellbeing relate to parental employment.
Source:
Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (Australia)

Work, life and time: the Australian work and life index 2007
Barbara Pocock, Natalie Skinner and Philippa Williams
Posted 12-07-2007
Work affects most working Australians beyond the workplace. Over half employees surveyed find that work sometimes, often or almost always affects their activities beyond the workplace (52.6% of the total) and even more find it regularly keeps them from spending the amount of time they would like with family or friends (60.7%).
Source:
Centre for Work+Life, University of South Australia

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
- Go to the Work-Life Balance Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/work_life_balance.htm

From the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)

17 July 2007 - CRINMAIL 898
- REPORTING TO THE CRC: Report from workshop on NGO reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child [publication]
- CHAD: Early to War: Child Soldiers in the Chad conflict [publication]
- COUNCIL OF EUROPE: New Convention to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse [news]
- NORTHERN UGANDA: Listening to Youth - the experiences of young people [publication]
- VIOLENCE: XVIIth ISPCAN International Congress [event and call for abstracts]
- CHILD RIGHTS INFORMATION NETWORK (CRIN): Call for submissions
- CHILD LABOUR: Invitation to comment on action plan
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

Earlier issues of CRINMAIL
- links to 227 earlier weekly issues (as at July 12/07), many of which are special editions focusing on a particular theme, 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 (European Children's Network) 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

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