Canadian Social Research Newsletter
May 28, 2006

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 1611 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

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

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. Concluding Observations about Canada (U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) - May 22
2. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Census family income, 2004 - May 25
--- Unemployment since 1971 - May 24
--- Retirement - May 24
--- Income of Individuals, 2004 - May 23
3. Struggling to Survive +Survival Strategies (life on welfare for women in Nova Scotia) (study done for NS women's centres) - May 25
4. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - May 26

International Content

5. Poverty Dispatch Digest : U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs --- May 25
6. The Conservative Nanny State : How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer (U.S.) (Center for Economic and Policy Research) - May 2006
7. Policy Hub Bulletin - May 2006 issue (Government of the U.K.)

Don't Ignore UN Committee Recommendations on Human Rights, Canadian NGOs say
May 22, 2006
The Canadian government cannot ignore the recommendations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a network of Canadian non-governmental organizations, said. The UN human rights body released its Concluding Observations on its review of Canada ’s record in implementing the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, one of the key United Nations human rights treaties it has signed.
Source:
National Anti-Poverty Organization

Canada could do so much better
Economic and social rights are not seen as fundamental human rights, says Vincent Calderhead
May 25, 2006
"(...) On Monday, the released its "concluding observations" regarding Canada's poor human rights record in the area of social and economic rights.
`Two weeks ago a large group of Canadian human rights advocates made submissions to [the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights] in Geneva as it reviewed Canada's compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. I was part of that group and while we came away from the hearings expecting criticism of Canada, the UN's final assessment was even more scathing and far-reaching than anticipated."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Complete report:

Concluding Observations of the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: CANADA (PDF file - 98K, 11 pages)
May 2006
- 73 recommendations by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to Canadian governments

Source:
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
36th Session (1 - 19 May 2006) - includes links to Canadian governments' 4th and 5th Periodic Reports, to the UN'list of issues for Canada, to the submissions of dozens of Canadian non-governmental organizations and to the U.N. committee's concluding observations about Canada.

Related Links:

Canada's poor face `emergency': UN group says social programs lacking
Sharply critical on rights of aboriginals
May 23, 2006
"Welfare benefits in most provinces have dropped in value in the past 10 years and often amount to less than half of basic living costs, a UN watchdog group charged yesterday. The employment insurance program needs to be more accessible, minimum wages don't meet basic needs, and homelessness and inadequate housing amount to a "national emergency," says the UN body's report from Geneva."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Google News search Results:
"Concluding Observations", Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Canada"
Google Web Search Results:
"Concluding Observations", Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Canada"
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the United Nations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/un.htm

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

May 25, 2006
Census family income, 2004
For the second year in a row, couple families in Oshawa had the highest median total family income among all census metropolitan areas. The median is the point where half of the families' incomes are higher and half are lower. The median for couple families in Oshawa reached $83,100 in 2004, up 1.6% over 2003, after adjusting for inflation. Oshawa remained slightly ahead of Ottawa–Gatineau, where couple families had a median total income of $82,100, up 1.2% from the previous year.

May 24, 2006
From the latest issue of Perspectives on labour and income:

Unemployment since 1971
May 2006
René Morissette and Feng Hou
Between 1971 and 2005, Canada’s labour force became more educated in line with the increased credentials of new entrants, while the aging of the workforce shifted the experience profile upwards. However, this was not reflected in unemployment rates, which were for the most part slightly higher in 2005 than in 1971. What factors are at play? The article looks at specific age-education combinations to yield a more nuanced long-term perspective on current labour market conditions.
HTML version
PDF version (138K, 11 pages)

Retirement (PDF file - 94K, 7 pages)
May 2006
Over the past three decades, the age of retirement has changed dramatically.
The median age was close to 65 in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but since the mid-1980s, it has declined considerably.
[Other StatCan content on the subject of retirement - site search result]

Source:
Perspectives on labour and income - May 2006 Issue (PDF file - 419K, 16 pages)
Earlier issues of Perspectives on labour and income - links to several dozen free full-text articles going back to January 2002, and earlier (but you have to contact StatCan for the earlier stuff...)
- incl. RRSPs & RRESPs, retirement, wealth inequality, etc.

May 23, 2006
Income of individuals, 2004 (Previous release)
Median total income for individuals increased for the first time in three years in 2004. The median total income of individuals amounted to $24,400, up 1.5% from 2003. The median is the point where one half of incomes are higher and the other half are lower. Among census metropolitan areas, the largest increase in median total income was in Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury (+2.8%) followed by Edmonton (+2.2%), Québec (+2.0%) and Calgary (+2.0%).

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

Workfare program fails women: report
May 25, 2006
"Provincial rules designed to get people off welfare and into the workforce are not working, according to a new study.The research project was done on behalf of women's centres in Antigonish, Sydney and Pictou County. The report, Struggling to Survive, was released Wednesday.Co-ordinator Rene Ross travelled to 11 communities last summer and spoke with 91 women who were on or had been on the Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) program. (...) The report makes several recommendations, including abolishing the parental leave policy, raising the allowance rates by $75 a month, and letting women keep a greater share of their earnings."
Source:
CBC News Nova Scotia

Related Link:

Poverty group: Welfare system needs reform
Source:
The Chronicle Herald

Complete report and companion document:

Struggling to Survive: Women on Employment Support & Income Assistance (ESIA) in
Nova Scotia Provide Their Key Recommendations for Policy Reform (PDF file - 406K, 30 pages)
January 2006

Survival Strategies: Women on Employment Support & Income Assistance (ESIA) in
Nova Scotia Provide Their Key Recommendations for Policy Reform (PDF file - 250K, 21 pages)
May 2006

Partnering Women’s Centres:

Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre
Pictou County Women’s Centre
Every Woman’s Centre, Sydney
Funded by
Status of Women Canada, Women’s Program
May 2006

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

What's New - from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) - University of Toronto

Each week, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit disseminates its "e-mail news notifier", an e-mail message with a dozen or so links to new reports, studies and child care in the news (media articles) by the CRRU or another organization in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC). What you see below is selected content from the most recent issue of the notifier.

26-May-06

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

>> CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
UN committee criticizes Canada for persistent poverty amidst wealth.
Report from FAFIA and NAWL finds discriminatory impact on women.

>> EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE
Government of Newfoundland unveils plan for ELCC in the province.

>> LIFE COURSE SOCIAL ROLES AND WOMEN'S HEALTH IN MID-LIFE
by McMunn, Anne; Bartley, Mel; Hardy, Rebecca and Kuh, Diana
Article in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health finds working mothers enjoy better health than full-time homemakers.

>> THE EFFECTS OF INVESTING IN EARLY EDUCATION ON ECONOMIC GROWTH
by Dickens, William T.; Sawhill, I. & Tebbs, Jeffrey
Policy brief from the Brooking Institution (US) analyzes the impact of universal preschool on economic growth; finds program would generate enough "growth in federal revenue to cover the costs of the program several times over."

>> CURRICULUM DECISION-MAKING: DIMENSIONS TO CONSIDER
by Frede, Ellen & Ackerman, Debra
Report from the National Institute for Early Education Research (US) provides "a framework for decision-makers to use in evaluating curriculum."

--------------------------------------------------
Child Care in the News
---------------------------------------------------

>> Province starting more pre-k programs [CA-SK]
by McLeod, Memory / The Leader-Post, 26 May 06

>> Krueger disagrees child-care funds cut [CA-BC]
by Fortems, Cam / The Daily News ( Kamloops), 25 May 06

>> Government's child-care plan receiving top grades [CA-NL]
by Stacey, Jean Edwards / The Western Star (Corner Brook), 25 May 06

>> Canada has room for improvement [CA]
Sudbury Star, 24 May 06

>> Child care demand is choking economy [AU]
by Peatling, Stephanie & Wade, Matt / Sydney Morning Herald, 23 May 06

>> Backlog in parental leave plan almost cleared, officials say [CA-QC]
by Carroll, Ann / The Gazette (Montreal), 23 May 06

>> Child care is vital: Letter [CA-NS]
by Power, Sonja (Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women) /
The Daily News, 23 May 06

>> Baby, is it tough to get into a good day care [CA-AB]
by Sadava, Mike / Edmonton Journal, 20 May 06

>> Daycare toddlers still bond more with mom
by Cukan, Alex / United Press International, 17 May 06

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Related Links:

What's New? - Canadian, U.S. and international resources
Child Care in the News - media articles
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
New Issue File:
ELCC and the federal budget 2006 - May 2006
On May 2, 2006 the Conservative government presented its first budget since the election of January 23rd. This ISSUE file provides links to budget documents pertaining to child care, as well as responses from opposition parties, child care and other civil society organizations, and a selection of media coverage.

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

POVERTY DISPATCH Digest
Institute for Research on Poverty - U. of Wisconsin
This digest offers dozens of new links each week to full-text articles in the U.S. media (mostly daily newspapers) on poverty, poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, and much more...
The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers a free e-mail service that consists of an e-mail message sent to subscribers each Monday and Thursday, containing a dozen or so links to articles dealing with the areas mentioned above. The weekly Canadian Social Research Links Poverty Dispatch Digest is a compilation, available online, of the two dispatch e-mails for that week --- with the kind permission of IRP.

Here's the complete collection of U.S. media articles in this week's Poverty Dispatch Digest:
(click the link above to read all of these articles)

May 25, 2006
Today's subjects include: Grandparent-Headed Households // Immigration and Race // Immigration Reform – Opinion and Editorial // Uninsured Young Adults // Poverty and Obesity // Academic Achievement // Medicaid Changes – West Virginia and Kentucky // Working Poor – Monterey County, CA // School Choice Program – Milwaukee, WI // Academic Achievement Gap – Wisconsin // Early Childhood Education – California // Foster Care Transition – Illinois

May 22, 2006
Today's subjects include: Short-term and Long-term Poverty - Opinion // Defining Homelessness - Opinion // Hard Work, Education, and Poverty - Opinion // Plight of the Working Poor - Santa Clarita, CA // Antipoverty Program - Montana // Suit over Denial of Public Assistance - New Mexico // Welfare Reform Legislation - Michigan, New Hampshire // Early Childhood Education - Colorado // Academic Achievement Gap - Florida // Health Care Plan for Low-Income Workers - Tennessee // Health Care Clinics for the Poor - North Carolina // Minimum Wage and Tax Credit Proposals - North Carolina // Minimum Wage - California // Homeless Families - Los Angeles // Homeless Immigrants - Los Angeles

Each of the weekly digests offers dozens of links or more to media articles that are time-sensitive.
The older the link, the more likely it is to either be dead or have moved to an archive - and some archives [but not all] are pay-as-you-go.
[For the current week's digest, click on the POVERTY DISPATCH Digest link above]

Subscribe to the Poverty Dispatch!
Send an e-mail message to John Wolf [ jwolf@ssc.wisc.edu ] to receive a plain text message twice a week with one to two dozen links to media articles with a focus on poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, health, Medicaid from across the U.S.
And it's free...

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

For the current week's digest, click on the POVERTY DISPATCH Digest link at the top of this section.
Recently-archived POVERTY DISPATCH weekly digests:

- May 18, 2006
- May 11
- May 4
- April 27
- April 20

POVERTY DISPATCH description/archive - weekly issues back to August 2005, 50+ links per issue
NOTE: this archive is part of the Canadian Social Research Links American Non-Governmental Social Research page.

- 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 Conservative Nanny State
How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer (U.S.)
A free e-book by Dean Baker, published May 2006
"In his new book, economist Dean Baker debunks the myth that conservatives favor the market over government intervention. In fact, conservatives rely on a range of “nanny state” policies that ensure the rich get richer while leaving most Americans worse off. It’s time for the rules to change. Sound economic policy should harness the market in ways that produce desirable social outcomes – decent wages, good jobs and affordable health care."

"The key flaw in the stance that most progressives have taken on economic issues is that they have accepted a framing whereby conservatives are assumed to support market outcomes, while progressives want to rely on the government. This framing leads progressives to futilely lash out against markets, rather than examining the factors that lead to undesirable market outcomes. The market is just a tool, and in fact a very useful one. It makes no more sense to lash out against markets than to lash out against the wheel." (Excerpted from Preface)

Complete report:
PDF version (1MB, 119 pages)
HTML version

Press Release - May 11, 2006

Source:
Center for Economic and Policy Research
[Dean Baker is a macroeconomist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.]
"The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. In order for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, it is necessary that they be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options."

Related Link:

Socialism for the rich
by Scott Piatkowski
May 25, 2006
Source:
rabble.ca

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

Policy Hub Bulletin - May 2006 issue
(Government of the U.K.)
"In the latest issue of the Policy Hub Bulletin, you'll find a host of recent additions with relevance for Better policy making, Improving delivery, and Evaluating policy, plus a Website of the month feature.
This month's bulletin includes the stories behind the headlines for some recent high profile reports, including:
Drug consumption rooms: Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) suggests government trials facilities where drug users inject drugs in supervised, hygienic conditions.
Fewer hospital beds: NHS Conferederation says advances in technology and new ways of treating patients mean the NHS needs fewer beds.
Tackling re-offending by young men: Howard League for Penal Reform finds nearly 70% of those released from prison will be reconvicted within two years.
News items, for all with an interest in policy making, will continue to be added to the Policy Hub homepage.

"Site of the Month":
Centre for Social & Economic Inclusion - database contains over 1000 reports, policy papers and other types of documents. Topics include Drugs and crime, Equality, Health, Homelessness, Learning and skills, Migration and asylum, Social inclusion

Source:
Policy Hub
[ Government Social Research ]

Sign up to receive an e-mail alert when the latest issue of the monthly Bulletin is posted on the Policy Hub website.

News Archive - view the contents of previous Bulletins

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