Canadian Social Research Newsletter
November 23,  2008

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 1929 subscribers.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian content

1. Improving Disability and Income Programs for People Living with HIV/AIDS (Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation) - August 2008
2. 2008 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty (Campaign 2000) - National report + reports for BC - Alberta - Saskatchewan - Manitoba - Ontario - Nova Scotia - November 21
3. The Cost of Poverty: An Analysis of the Economic Cost of Poverty in Ontario (Ontario Association of Food Banks) - November 2008
4. A Housing Benefit for Ontario : One Housing Solution for a Poverty Reduction Strategy (Daily Bread Food Bank and others) - November 17
5. Countdown to an Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy : 2 weeks to go (Poverty Watch Ontario) - November 17
6. Speech from the Throne: Protecting Canada's Future (Government of Canada) - November 19
7. Health Disparity in Saskatoon: Analysis to Intervention (Saskatoon Health Region) - October 2008
8. A Living Wage for Toronto (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) - November 18
9. Best Interest of the Child : Meaning and Application in Canada - Conference (UNICEF Canada) - Feb. 27-28, 2009
10. New from Queen's University School of Policy Studies:
--- Social Policy in Canada - Looking Back, Looking Ahead - November 2008
--- The Olivia Framework Concepts for Use in Finely- Grained, Integrated Social Policy Analysis - November 2008
11. What's New in The Daily (Statistics Canada):
--- Consumer Price Index , October 2008 - November 21
--- Leading indicators, October 2008 - November 19
12. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Toronto) - November 19

International  content

13. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)
14. (U.S.) Minimum Wages and Poverty: Will the Obama Proposal Help the Working Poor? (Employment Policies Institute) - September 2008
15. (U.S.) Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short : New findings on the challenges confronting America's working families (Working Poor Families Project) - October 2008
16. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
17. CRINMAIL (November 2008) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Have a great week!

New from the Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation:

Navigating the Maze : Improving Coordination and Integration of Disability Income and
Employment Policies and Programs for People living with HIV/AIDS - A Discussion Paper (PDF - 1.1MB, 97 pages)
By John Stapleton and Anne Tweddle
August 2008
"(...) Disability income programs are critical supports for people living with HIV and other disabilities. Government, private and quasi government bodies spent approximately $26 billion dollars in direct income support benefits to individuals with disabilities without any comprehensive oversight respecting what the programs do as a whole or purport to achieve for Canadians with disabilities. (...) The goal of this discussion paper is to promote the discussion toward improved coordination and integration of these programs."

COMMENT:
This comprehensive discussion paper focuses on programs and supports for people living with HIV and other "episodic disabilities" - people who live with periods of good health interrupted by periods of illness or disability. In addition to HIV, episodic disabilities may include multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis, cancer, diabetes and mental and mood disorders.

The paper will also interest researchers looking for solid qualitative and quantitative data on Canadian federal and provincial/territorial programs and supports for people with disabilities in general.

Especially noteworthy is the Appendices section, which takes up a full two-thirds of the report --- there, you'll find comparisons of federal and provincial/territorial employment and income support programs for people with disabilities, with a special focus on social assistance (welfare) programs, along with a summary of issues (shortcomings of the system) and disability expenditures in Canada for 2005-2006. The paper is extensively hyperlinked, with direct links to 100+ online source documents.
Highly recommended reading!
[In keeping with the Canadian Social Research Links Proactive Disclosure Policy, I should mention that the authors are John my friend and kindred spirit of 30+ years and Anne my spouse, who also has 30+ years of experience in the social program information business. Gilles]

Source:
Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation
The Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) is a national charitable organization working to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS through rehabilitation research, education, and cross-sector partnerships.

Related link:

Open Policy
John Stapleton's website - includes links to published work, articles in the media, presentations and more

- Go to the Disability Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/disbkmrk.htm. ]

From Campaign 2000:

Family Security in Insecure Times:
The Case for a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Canada -
2008 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada (PDF - 167K, 6 pages)
[ version française:
Rapport 2008 sur la pauvreté des enfants et des familles au Canada (PDF - 565K, 8pages) ]

NOTE: on the Campaign 2000 home page, you'll also find links to provincial report cards in
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia (see a bit further below).

Poverty Reduction a Strategic Move in Downturn--Campaign 2000 Released New Report Card
Press Release
21 November 2008
OTTAWA – The federal government would make a timely strategic move if it invested now to reduce stubborn poverty rates in Canada, says a new report by Campaign 2000. The 2008 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, available at www.campaign2000.ca, shows the nation’s child poverty rate is almost what it was in 1989 when Parliament unanimously resolved to end child poverty by the year 2000.

2008 Report Card on Child Poverty in Ontario--released Nov. 21 at Queen's Park
Press Release
21 November 2008
Toronto - Ontario’s child poverty rate is stubbornly high and will get far worse if the province plunges into a recession, says a report by Ontario Campaign 2000. Now More Than Ever: Ontario Needs a Strong Poverty Reduction Strategy, shows Ontario’s child poverty rate remained high, at 11.8 per cent, during economic growth.

Campaign 2000
Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.

Related link:

760,000 Canadian kids growing up poor: report
November 20, 2008
OTTAWA — At least 760,000 Canadian kids - about one in nine - are growing up poor, says a new report that calls on the Harper government to follow the lead of some provinces and take action. The 2008 report card being released Friday by anti-poverty group Campaign 2000 likely underestimates the true extent of hardship, says national co-ordinator Laurel Rothman.
Source:
Canadian Press

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

Provincial report cards
- includes links to the latest report and earlier years for : * British Columbia * Alberta * Saskatchewan * Manitoba * Ontario * New Brunswick * Nova Scotia
- the links below are all from the above reports card page, and they point only to the 2008 reports; go to the report cards page for earlier years for all provinces noted above.

British Columbia:
2008 Child Poverty Report Card (PDF - 1.4MB, 19 pages)
November 2008
Ten factsheets analyzing various aspects of child poverty in BC.
* What is Child Poverty? * BC Had the Worst Record - Five Years in a Row * Child Poverty over the Years * Child Poverty by Family Type * Depth of Poverty by Family Type * Income of Families with Children * Child Poverty and Working Parents * Families with Children on Welfare * Child Poverty and the Importance of Government Help * What Needs to Happen
Source:
First Call BC

Alberta:
We can do better : Toward an Alberta Child Poverty Reduction
Strategy for Children and Families (PDF - 2.9MB, 20 pages)
November 2008
Source:
Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC)

ESPC media release:
77,595 Alberta Children Live Below the Poverty Line
Nov. 21, 2008
"(...)The report, We Can Do Better, also shows that low income children in Alberta live deeper in poverty than children in other parts of Canada, and four out of five live in families where their parent or parents are working."

Saskatchewan:
2008 Child and Family Poverty Profile (PDF - 103K, 9 pages)
November 2008
"(...)Despite government resolve, little has changed for poor children. Nearly one in every five Saskatchewan children lives in a family with an income below the LICO."
Source:
University of Regina Social Policy Research Unit

Manitoba:
Manitoba at Crossroads. Child and Family Report Card 2008 (PDF - 1.95MB, 22 pages)
November 2008
"(...)there has been little significant difference in the rate of poverty in Manitoba over the last nine years, nine years that have seen unprecedented economic growth. The statistics also show that the wealth generated in those years overwhelmingly ended up in the pockets of the richest Manitobans and has done little to lift people out of poverty."
Source:
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

Ontario:
2008 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Ontario (PDF - 121K, 12 pages)
November 2008
"(...)It is estimated that the public cost of poverty in Ontario is $10-$13 billion/year in healthcare costs, criminal justice, and lost productivity. Investing in preventing and reducing poverty is a more effective and less costly approach. The economic downturn in 2008 is hurting low and modest income families hard."
Source:
Ontario Campaign 2000

New Brunswick:
The Saint John Human Development Council has published a report card for 2007 (PDF - 777K, 6 pages) and 2006, but not for 2008 (as at Nov.22/08).

Nova Scotia:
Report on child poverty in NS (PDF - 110K, 2 pages)
November 2008
By Pauline Raven

- Go to the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm
- Go to the Non-Governmental Sites in British Columbia (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bcbkmrk3.htm
- Go to the Alberta Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/abkmrk.htm
- Go to the Saskatchewan Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/skbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Manitoba Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/mbkmrk.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm
- Go to the Nova Scotia Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/nsbkmrk.htm

What's new from the
Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB):

The Cost of Poverty: An Analysis of
the Economic Cost of Poverty in Ontario (PDF - 1.3MB, 36 pages)
November 2008
By Nathan Laurie
Key Facts:
* Poverty disproportionately affects certain populations, and has a complex mix of institutional and individual causes.
* Poverty has a price tag for all Ontarians.
* The cost of poverty is reflected in remedial, intergenerational, and opportunity costs.
* Reducing poverty with targeted policies and investments over the life course generates an economic return. This return is equal to a proportion of the assessed cost of poverty.

Source:
Ontario Association of Food Banks

Related link:

Everyone pays the province's $38 billion cost
Toll of health care, crime, social assistance $2,900 per household, economic analysis finds
November 20, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Poverty costs Ontario a staggering $38 billion a year – and we all pay the price, says a new report that offers the first-ever analysis of the problem's economic impact on everyone. Although the province's 905,000 poorest households bear the brunt of the cost, everyone feels the pinch, says the report written by a group of leading economic and public policy experts to be released at Queen's Park today.
Source:
Toronto Star

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.htm

Coalition releases innovative plan to address housing poverty
[missing link]
News Release
November 17, 2008
TORONTO – A coalition of private, public and non-profit housing associations, community organizations, academics, and foundations released a proposal today for a new housing benefit for low-income Ontarians. The proposal, outlined in A Housing Benefit for Ontario: One Housing Solution for a Poverty Reduction Strategy, recommends a new income benefit that will help low-income, working age renters with high shelter costs in communities across Ontario. The proposal would add a necessary affordable housing component to Ontario’s highly anticipated Poverty Reduction Strategy, expected in December.

A Housing Benefit for Ontario
One Housing Solution for a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PDF - 255K, 30 pages)
November 2008
"(...)The proposed benefit pays an average of $103 per month to an estimated 66,000 families and 129,000 individual and couple households. The amount of the benefit is based on a formula that pays 75% of shelter costs between a floor and a ceiling that varies by community size. The housing benefit is reduced as income rises."

Housing Benefit Summary (PDF - 57K, 2 pages)

Housing Benefit Q & A (PDF - 44K, 5 pages)

Source:
Proposal submitted to the Province of Ontario by a coalition of industry and community organizations:
Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario
Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association
Greater Toronto Apartments Association (no website found)
Metcalf Charitable Foundation
Atkinson Charitable Foundation
Daily Bread Food Bank
===> see the Daily Bread Food Bank Publications page for related links...

- Go to the Anti-poverty Strategies and Campaigns page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty.htm
- Go to the Homelessness and Housing Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/homeless.htm
- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (D-W) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk3.htm

Countdown to a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) - 2 weeks to go
November 17, 2008
With 2 weeks until the December deadline, 25 in 5 goes on the road
1. Quote of the week: Too Much Poverty, Too Few Solutions Letting Our Young People Down
2. Leadership in Hard Times: 25 in 5 Network launches 22-city tour to promote poverty reduction
3. Three ways you can make a difference for poverty reduction, including DEADLINE TODAY to appear before pre-budget consultations in Toronto
4. Governments can use crisis to repair and rebuild infrastructure while fighting poverty, says economist Armine Yalnizyan
5. Five provinces and counting on poverty reduction, is Manitoba next?
Source:
Poverty Watch Ontario
To monitor and inform on cross-Ontario activity on the poverty reduction agenda

Related links:

25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction
25-in-5: Network for Poverty Reduction is a multi-sectoral network comprised of more than 100 provincial and Toronto-based organizations and individuals working on eliminating poverty. (...) We are asking our government for a plan to reduce Ontario poverty levels by 25% in 5 years and by 50% before 2018

Social Planning Network of Ontario
The Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) is a coalition of social planning councils (SPC), community development councils (CDC), resource centres, and planning committees located in various communities throughout Ontario.

Ontario Campaign 2000
Ontario Campaign 2000 is a provincial partner in Campaign 2000, with 66 member organizations across the province.
[ Campaign 2000 ]

Income Security Advocacy Centre
The Income Security Advocacy Centre works with and on behalf of low income communities in Ontario to address issues of income security and poverty.

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

Speech from the Throne: Protecting Canada's Future
19 November 2008
Today, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, delivered the Government’s Speech from the Throne to open Canada’s 40th Parliament.
Source:
Government of Canada

Related link:

Speech from Throne: Not much of anything
November 19, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
The federal government’s Speech from the Throne, which was read on Wednesday afternoon in the House of Commons, was short on specifics, and even the generalities were less than sweeping. And compared to some of our international partners, such as Australia and China, Canada’s federal government is coming up far short in responding to the global recession.
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]
The Wellesley Institute advances the social determinants of health through community-based research , community engagement , and the informing of public policy.

- Go to the General Federal Government Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fed2.htm

Health Disparity in Saskatoon: Analysis to Intervention
o Full report (PDF - 10.3MB, 365 pages)
o Executive Summary (PDF - 208K, 4 pages)
o 20-Page Summary (PDF - 584K, 20 pages)
o Background/Context and Letters of Support (PDF - 5.2MB, 79 pages)
o Chapter 1: Introduction (PDF - 639K, 18 pages)
o Chapter 2: Socioeconomic Status and Health Status in Saskatoon (PDF - 4MB, 141 pages)
o Chapter 3: Evidence Based Policy Options (PDF - 852K, 119 pages)

Source:
Saskatoon Health Region
Saskatoon Health Region is one of the most complex and integrated health delivery agencies in Canada, responsible for providing services ranging from hospital and long term care to home care, public health and other community-based programs.

Related media coverage
from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix:

Report tackles poverty
Health region study to propose solutions to reduce rich, poor gap
By Janet French
November 14, 2008
A massive report to be unveiled by the Saskatoon Health Region on Monday offers dozens of potential solutions to alleviate poverty in Saskatchewan and reduce the yawning gap between the health of the rich and the poor. In addition to drawing a detailed picture of the health differences between Saskatoon's richest and poorest residents, the 361-page document borrows successful social policies from around the globe -- Ireland, Sweden, Britain, Seattle and even other Canadian provinces -- and suggests how they could be applied here.

[ NOTE: the above article contains the notation : "FIRST IN A SIX-PART SERIES", but there are no links on the Star Phoenix home page to a page with links to all six articles in the series. I found the following links to related articles by doing a search of the Star Phoenix using the search string "Health Disparity" (click the link for more results). ]

Province takes steps to help poor, minister says
November 15, 2008

Income reform: first step to improving health of Sask. poor, says report
November 15, 2008

Education initiatives could help our health
November 17, 2008

Housing the homeless could save millions of dollars
November 18, 2008

Health report laudable, yet grandiose
November 18, 2008

Clinics in poor areas won't solve problem alone
November 20, 2008

Source:
Saskatoon Star Phoenix

- Go to the Saskatchewan Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/skbkmrk.htm

Greater Toronto Area working poor need pay hike: Study
Press Release
November 18, 2008
TORONTO – In Canada’s most expensive urban area, Ontario’s minimum wage falls far short of what families need for a decent standard of living, says the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study, A Living Wage for Toronto, estimates two working parents raising two young children would need to earn $16.60 an hour each, with both parents working full-time and year-round, to be able to live adequately within the Greater Toronto Area.

A Living Wage for Toronto
By Hugh Mackenzie and Jim Stanford
November 2008
* Summary - PDF - 54K
* Complete report - PDF - 346K, 28 pages)

[ More CCPA-Ontario Office Publications ]

Source:
CCPA Ontario Office
[ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) ]
The CCPA is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice.

Related link:

Report pegs decent living wage at $16
Higher pay represents threshold family must cross to take part in society, avoid being marginalized
November 18, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
Forget dreams of a $10 minimum wage lifting thousands of workers out of poverty. A couple raising two young children in the GTA would each need to earn at least $16.60 an hour to have a decent quality of life, says a new study to be released today. A single parent with one child would need to earn $16.15 an hour.
Source:
Toronto Star

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

Best Interest of the Child : Meaning and Application in Canada
A Multi-Disciplinary Conference
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
February 27 and 28, 2009
Sponsored by the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children; the Faculty of Law and David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, University of Toronto; UNICEF Canada; and Justice for Children and Youth. Supported by The Department of Canadian Heritage

The Best Interests of the Child is one of the basic principles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It has been interpreted and applied in different ways in a variety of different contexts in Canada. In 2003, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Canada work toward a common understanding and more consistent application of the principle, at the level of public policy formation as well as in decision-making for individual children. The objective of this conference is to deepen understanding of the principle, share experiences of its application, and identify good practices for implementation in Canada. The intended outcome of the initiative is a more common understanding of the principle

Notice and Call for Expression of Interest (PDF - 1.5MB, 1 page)

Source:
UNICEF Canada

- Go to the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm
- Go to the Conferences and Events Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/confer.htm

New from Queen's University School of Policy Studies:

Social Policy in Canada - Looking Back, Looking Ahead (PDF - 233K, 40 pages)
Peter Hicks
November 2008
Abstract: This paper discusses recent policy trends, the changing role of the various actors in the system, international comparisons and a range of other social policy topics. The paper does this by examining the author’s thoughts on trends and future directions as they were set out in a paper written in 1994. It then fast forwards to 2008 and examines what actually happened in the intervening years, pointing out areas where earlier forecasts were reasonably accurate and, where they were not, the reasons for this. The immediate purpose of the paper is to examine the reasons why social policy analysts need to look into the future, and to explore ways of managing the inevitably large risks associated with such future-looking exercises. The underlying purpose, however, is simply to introduce a range of important Canadian social policy topic to students and others who are interested in social policy, but without much previous background in the area.

Recommended reading!
- includes a senior federal government insider's view of the tumultuous period of the mid-1990s, notably the Social Security Review of 1994. As an insider myself during that decade (if only on the social program information side of the Department where author Peter Hicks was an Assistant Deputy Minister), I found this paper quite interesting and enlightening, notably in its retrospective look at social policy in Canada in the mid-1990s and thirteen years later, in 2008.

Related link:

 Establishing an Effective Social Policy Agenda with Constrained Resources
by Peter Hicks (1995)

---

The Olivia Framework Concepts for Use in
Finely- Grained, Integrated Social Policy Analysis (PDF - 474K, 41 pages)
November 2008
By Peter Hicks
Working Paper #45
[Friendly warning : Economists, life-course policy analysts and MPA students will no doubt tremble with excitement as they pore through these 41 pages dealing with a set of standard concepts that they can use in describing and assessing the many dimensions of human resources and social development policies. If you don't speak Policy-Wonkese, though, you may find it a bit of a challenging read. And Olivia is not Newton-John, but rather a fictitious individual, a case study developed to assist in the analysis of social and labour market conditions and policies and their impacts on people.]

Source:
School of Policy Studies - Publications
[ Queen's University School of Policy Studies ]

- Go to the Canada Assistance Plan / Canada Health and Social Transfer / Canada Social Transfer Resources page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/cap.htm
- Go to the Canadian Universities and Colleges Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/univbkmrk.htm

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

November 21, 2008
Consumer Price Index, October 2008
Consumer prices rose 2.6% in the 12 months to October 2008, a sharply slower pace than the 3.4% increase recorded in September. While October's slowdown was due primarily to slower price increases for gasoline, prices for food exerted stronger upward pressure on consumer prices. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.5% from September to October.

November 19, 2008
Leading indicators, October 2008
The composite leading index fell 0.4% in October after a 0.3% drop in September. However, most of the decline originated in the stock market. Excluding the stock market, the index edged down 0.1% after a 0.2% decline in September.

The Daily Archives - select a month from the drop-down menu to view releases for that month in chronological order

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

From the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU):

November 19, 2008

From vision to action: Early childhood education and care in 2020
19 Nov 08
- New CRRU BRIEFing NOTE presents a vision for what a universal ECEC system in Canada might look like from the program to the policy level.

Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Canada
19 Nov 08
- Report from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urges Canada “to step up its efforts to provide a sufficient number of affordable childcare spaces.”

Factors of risk, vulnerability and school readiness among preschoolers: Evidence from Quebec
19 Nov 08
- IRPP report by Christa Japel demonstrates how access to high quality child care at a young age would help at-risk children succeed in school. Now available in English.

Campaign 2000 asks Prime Minister Harper to keep interests of children on the agenda for fall session of Parliament
19 Nov 08
- As Parliament resumes, Campaign 2000 releases an open letter to Stephen Harper; announces Nov. 21st release of their annual Report Card on Child and Family Poverty.

more WHAT'S NEW ONLINE »

child care in the news

· More child care spaces urged [CA-BC]
19 Nov 08

· ABC Learning's debt revealed as rival CFK Childcare Centres collapses [AU]
19 Nov 08

· Staff levels, rent could have caused ABC collapse [AU]
19 Nov 08

· ABC's slippery slope [AU]
18 Nov 08

· CPE: une mine d'or pour les femmes [CA-QC]
16 Nov 08

· The economics behind the sacred baby bonus [CA-QC]
13 Nov 08

more CC IN THE NEWS »

Related Links:

Subscribe to the CRRU email announcements list
Sign up to receive email notices of updates and new postings on the CRRU website which will inform you of policy developments in early childhood care and education, new research and resources for policy, newly released CRRU publications, and upcoming events of interest to the child care and broader community.

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
IRP compiles and distributes Poverty Dispatches twice a week. Each issue of the dispatch provides links to U.S. web-based news items dealing with topics such as poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
Each Dispatch lists links to current news in popular print media.
Selected links appear below.

November 20, 2008
* Increasing Applications to Assistance Programs - Oregon
* Homeless Children and Families
* U.S Families and Food Insecurity
* Poor Children, Nutrition, and Obesity
* Medicaid Reimbursement and Hospitals - Illinois
* Unemployment Rates
* Teenage Pregnancy - Milwaukee, WI
* State College Funding and Enrollment - California
* School Segregation - Twin Cities, MN
* States and Cuts to Programs for the Elderly and Disabled
* Pension Benefits and Retirees' Income - Louisiana
* Family Leave and Sick Leave

November 17, 2008
* The Economy, State Budgets, and Program Cuts
* State Funds for Unemployment Insurance
* Effectiveness of Safety Net Programs
* Hospitals and Care for the Poor and Uninsured
* State Health Care Programs - California, Louisiana, Connecticut
* Kids Count Report - Montana
* Hunger and Food Assistance
* The Economy and Schools
* States' High School Education Reforms
* School Segregation - Twin Cities, MN
* Prisoner Re-entry and Education Programs
* The Financial Crisis and the World's Poor

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 2006

Search Poverty Dispatches

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

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

Recent release from the (U.S.) Employment Policies Institute:

Minimum Wages and Poverty:
Will the Obama Proposal Help the Working Poor? (PDF - 3.1MB, 28 pages)
September 2008
Highlights - HTML
As this year’s economic crisis hit everyone’s pocketbooks, some advocates called for another increase in the federal minimum wage (from the current $6.55 to $9.50) . (...) Economists at American University and Cornell University conclude this high minimum wage would fail to improve our nation’s poverty rate because (1) over 60 percent of the benefits would go to families with incomes more than 2 times the federal poverty level, and (2) the job loss suffered by the lowest skilled employees could range from 450,000 to 4 million. The study also shows that the last minimum wage hike also fell short of achieving any poverty reductions, again because of poor target efficiency and resulting job loss.

Source:
Employment Policies Institute (EPI)

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

<Begin reality check.>

Lies, Damn Lies and The Internet

I enthusiastically encourage open dialogue between supporters of differing viewpoints.
What I object to is the misrepresentation of mission and objectives and the wilful omission of important contextual information, such as the fact that the Big Daddy at EPI is a Washington lobbyist for the restaurant, hotel, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries, all of which stand to gain from low minimum wage standards.

Here's an excerpt from what SourceWatch*
has to say about the Employment Policies Institute:
The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) is one of several front groups created by Berman & Co., a Washington, DC public affairs firm owned by Rick Berman, who lobbies for the restaurant, hotel, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries [bolding added]. (...) EPI has has been widely quoted in news stories regarding minimum wage issues, and although a few of those stories have correctly described it as a "think tank financed by business," most stories fail to provide any identification that would enable readers to identify the vested interests behind its pronouncements. Instead, it is usually described exactly the way it describes itself, as a "non-profit research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding employment growth" that "focuses on issues that affect entry-level employment." In reality, EPI's mission is to keep the minimum wage low so Berman's clients can continue to pay their workers as little as possible [more bolding added]. EPI also owns the internet domain names to MinimumWage.com and LivingWage.com, a website that attempts to portray the idea of a living wage for workers as some kind of insidious conspiracy."
Source:

[ *SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms and public relations professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SourceWatch also includes profiles on think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outlets, journalists and government agencies." ]

CAVEAT:

The "About..." page of any website should *always* include clear statements concerning who is 'behind' the site, whether they're called sponsors, funders partners, supporters or whatever, and what the site hopes to accomplish. In the case of the EPI, there's no mention on their About Us page of the vested interests of the industries that stand most to gain from the information that EPI disseminates. To say that "EPI sponsors nonpartisan research..." is a blatant falsehood.

The Bottom Line:

Beware of websites that misrepresent themselves.
* Ask questions.
* Use SourceWatch.

See also:
Full Frontal Scrutiny
... a joint venture between Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Center for Media and Democracy, two non-profit organizations whose mission includes consumer education using investigative reporting. This Web site seeks to expose front groups, which are organizations that state a particular agenda, while hiding or obscuring their identity, membership or sponsorship, or all three.

</End reality check .>

If you want to read some *credible* U.S. research
on the American minimum wage, see this site:

Minimum Wage Issue Guide
(See esp. Minimum wage — Facts at a glance - incl. "no evidence of job loss from previous minimum wage increases.")

Source:
Economic Policies Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy.

[ "The Employment Policies institute deliberately attempted to create confusion in the eyes of journalists and the general public by adopting a name which closely resembles the Economic Policy Institute, a much older, progressive think tank with ties to organized labor." - SourceWatch ]

- For Canadian and American minimum wage info, go to the Minimum Wage /Living Wage Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/minwage.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm

Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short
"The American Dream is grounded in the belief that hard work leads to economic advancement and self-sufficiency. Today, the stark reality is that too many American families, despite working hard, earn incomes too low to achieve economic security. The statistics paint a troubling picture:
* More than one out of four working families with children is low-income. In all, a total of 42 million adults and children struggle to get by.
* The number of low-income working families increased by 350,000 between 2002 and 2006.
* Income inequality among working families increased by almost 10 percent from 2002 to 2006."
- includes links to :
Overview - State by State Data - Key State Findings - Maps - Myths and Facts - Call for Action

America’s Working Families Continue to Fall Behind
New Report Finds One in Four Working Families are Low-Income
October 14, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than one in four working families – a total of 42 million adults and children – are low-income, earning too little to meet their basic needs, according to a new report. “Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short,” a follow-up to the 2004 report “Working Hard, Falling Short,” found that an additional 350,000 working families were low-income in 2006 compared to 2002. The report also found increasing income inequality, with a widening gap between the share of income the highest-earning families receive and that earned by the least affluent. This increase in income disparity and in the number of low-income working families came during a period of economic expansion, suggesting that those numbers will continue to grow during this economic downturn.

Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short (PDF - 750K, 8 pages)
New findings on the challenges confronting America's working families
Dated October 2008

Source:
Working Poor Families Project (WPFP)
The Working Poor Families Project (WPFP) was launched in 2002 by national philanthropic leaders who saw the need to strengthen state policies affecting these working families.
[ About the Working Poor Families Project ]
[ WPFP Reports and Publications ]

The Working Poor Families Project is a national initiative supported by the
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Serving children and families. Building supportive communities. Reforming public systems. Gathering and evaluating data. Promoting equity. Achieving results.

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

APO Weekly Briefing
The content of this page changes each week, and it includes links to a few book/report reviews, about two dozen new reports, a few job ads and 60 events (mostly conferences) of interest to social researchers...
Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO) - home page
With nearly 120 member centres and institutes, Australian Policy Online offers easy access to much of the best Australian social, economic, cultural and political research available online.
NOTE: the APO home page includes links to the five most popular reports on the APO website, and this list is updated each week.

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

- 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):

20 November 2008 - CRINMAIL 1035: Special edition on the global financial crisis
* The FINANCIAL CRISIS and CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
* GLOBAL: Universal Children's Day 2008
* NEW: Information page on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and child rights
* EMPLOYMENT: ECPAT UK
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
**QUIZ**

18 November 2008 - CRINMAIL 1034
* TANZANIA/BURUNDI: Attacks on Albino children [news]
* DISCRIMINATION: The status of childhood [call for information]
* EGYPT: Sinai Perils - Risks to Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Egypt and Israel [publication]
* TURKEY: Stone-throwing kids face 23 years [news]
* UNITED STATES: A Child Alone and Without Papers [publication]
* CZECH REPUBLIC: Study shows Roma children still segregated at school [news]
* CRIN: Annual Report 2007 [publication]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**

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

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 ]

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

The e-mail version of this newsletter is available only in plain text (no graphics, no hyperlinks, no fancy bolding or italics, etc.) to avoid security problems with government departments, universities and other networks with firewalls. The text-only version is also friendlier for people using older or lower-end technology.

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

23 New Definitions

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And, in closing...

Production and value of honey and maple products, 2008
November 21, 2008
If you like honey and maple syrup like every good Canadian should, you may wish to read this 6-page article entitled
Production and Value of Honey and Maple Products, 2008 (PDF - 135K), which explains why we're going to pay even more than before to top off our peanut butter sandwich with honey.
<Do I sound bitter? You bet. I'm switching to peanut butter and JAM!>
Source:
The Daily
[Statistics Canada]

Also from StatCan:

So, whatchya drinkin' these days?
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/english/freepub/82-003-XIE/2008004/article/10716-en.htm

Hey, all you Timmy's fans out there!
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/caffeine-eng.php
Recommended daily intake of caffeine for most adults:
"... no more than 400mg of caffeine per day, the equivalent of about three 8-oz (237ml) cups of brewed coffee"
(slightly lower for women of child-bearing age)