Canadian Social Research Newsletter

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 1944 subscribers.

1. Low Income in Canada: 2000-2006 Using the Market Basket Measure (Human Resources and Skills Development) - October 2008
2. Premier says B.C. making progress but still has 'long way to go' on helping children in need (Yahoo! Canada News) - December 27
3. The Fiscal Monitor - October 2008 (Department of Finance Canada) - December 23
4. Deadline to set up a Registered Disability Savings Plan extended to March 2/09 (Department of Finance Canada) - December 23
5. 2010 Homeless Champions - Vancouver
6. What's New in The Daily (Statistics Canada):
--- National Income and Expenditure Accounts, Quarterly Estimates, Third quarter 2008 - December 23
--- Survey of Household Spending, 2007 - December 22
--- Study: Immigrants' education and required job skills, 1991 to 2006 - December 22
--- Payroll employment, earnings and hours, October 2008 - December 22

7. Australian Government launches 12 year plan to reduce homelessness in Australia - December 21
8. Australian Policy Online Weekly Briefing - selected recent content
9. Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion (CERC, Paris) Bulletin - selected recent content (December 15, 2008)
--- The dynamics of child poverty in Sweden - October 2008
--- Low-income children in the United States : National and state trend data, 1997-2007 - November 2008
--- Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2008 - December 2008
--- The working poor in Europe - 2008
--- Welfare and employment : A European dilemma? - December 2008
--- Fiscal effects of minimum wages : An analysis for Germany - November 2008
--- Minimum wages and their alternatives : A critical assessment - December 2008
10. CRINMAIL (December 2008) - (Child Rights Information Network - CRIN)

Low Income in Canada: 2000-2006 Using the Market Basket Measure
October 2008
The Market Basket Measure (MBM) is a measure of low income based on the cost of a specified basket of goods and services. It was designed to complement two Statistics Canada measures of low income: the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs) based on average consumption patterns and the Low Income Measure (LIM) based on median incomes. The MBM is far more sensitive to geographical differences in living costs than these other measures.

- includes links to a Highlights page and the full text in one PDF file (both of these links appear below), along with links to the individual chapters and appendices (methodological notes and source data used in creating the Market Basket Measure)

Individual chapters include:
* 1. Introduction
* 2. Low-Income Measures: Conceptual Differences
* 3. The Market Basket Measure
* 4. The Results
* 5. A Focus on the "Working Poor"
* 6. High-Risk Groups
* 7. Conclusion
You can access all of these chapters from
the main page of the report.

* Highlights
Seven years of data based on this measure are now available. This makes possible an examination of low income trends over a significant time period as well as the persistence of low income for various groups over two five-year periods (2000 to 2004 and 2002 to 2006). This report also provides data based on the paid work status of the main income recipient (MIR) of economic families and on five groups who are particularly at risk of persistent low income.

Source:
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
NOTE: Since October 30/08, the name of the Dept. is officially "...and Skills Development". (See the Minister's title and profile), but the website still says "...and Social Development". The departmental name change will not be official until ratified by the Parliament of Canada; that's why you'll see a mix of the two departmental designations for awhile. In fact, the site may be updated to reflect the change in the department name just in time for the next federal election!

A nice, fat lump of coal for the HRSDC website design team Christmas stocking.

As at December 24, there is absolutely not one link to, nor even a mention of, this report on the HRSDC website, and yet the date that appears on the report is October 2008.
The HRSDC What's New page shows nothing new in October.
The HRSDC search engine continues to underwhelm. Searching for the exact title of the report yields zero returns. Searching for the short title [without the dates] gives you many links, ALL to the 2002 edition of this report. As always, my advice to social researchers looking for something on the HRSDC website is to use Google.ca .

So how did I find the link to this report?
I didn't --- I received an email from the mailing list of Rob Rainer, Executive Director of the National Anti-Poverty Organization.
(Thanks, Rob - perhaps HRSDC could hire you to keep their What's New page up to date...)

Researchers:
If you wish to browse the publications available from HRSDC, you can start from either of the following links:
HRSDC Publications and Resources by Type of Resource - incl. * Departmental Reports * Public Opinion Research Reports * Research Studies * Audit Reports * Evaluation Reports * Social Policy * Labour Market Policy * Learning Policy
HRSDC Publications by Topic

Why the rant?
If I had a nickel for every time I found out through a third party about a new HRSDC report posted on their website over the past few years, I'd probably have enough to pay for that lump of coal myself.
Conversely, if everyone who has ever cursed the HRSDC website for its user-UNfriendliness kicked in a nickel, we might have enough to offer individual lumps of coal for each and every one of the Web design committee and sub-committee members. As a former civil servant working in HRSDC, I can tell you there are TONS of very useful resources - recent and historical - on the HRSDC website.
Good luck finding them, though.

Premier says B.C. making progress but still has 'long way to go' on helping children in need
December 27, 2008
VICTORIA, B.C. — B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says social groups and the Opposition New Democrats may not believe it, but helping the province's children is his top political priority. In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Campbell said his Liberal government can do better when it comes to helping children, but its main focus is on giving programs time to develop and take root. British Columbia has consistently ranked near the bottom in Canada when it comes to child poverty levels, despite having one of the strongest economies in the country. (...) Recently, the left-leaning B.C. Centre for Policy Alternatives released a study (see "Related link", below) that concluded one in six children in British Columbia lives in poverty. The report called for a 50 per cent increase in welfare rates, a jump in the minimum wage, more social housing and a universal child-care plan.
Source:
Yahoo! Canada News

A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC
By Seth Klein, Marjorie Griffin Cohen,
T. Garner, Iglika Ivanova, Marc Lee, Bruce Wallace and Margot Young
December 2008
Complete report (PDF File, 752K, 65 pages)
Summary (PDF - 711K, 12 pages)

Poverty reduction commitment needed from all BC political parties
Concrete plan more important than ever in economic downturn: report
Press Release
December 11, 2008
VANCOUVER - As the provincial election draws closer, a new report calls on BC’s political parties to commit to legislated targets and timelines to dramatically reduce poverty and homelessness. British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in Canada, and has had the highest child poverty rate for five years running, despite years of strong economic growth and record low unemployment.

Release of The Fiscal Monitor
December 23, 2008
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today released The Fiscal Monitor for October 2008.

Highlights:
October 2008: budgetary deficit of $0.6 billion
April to October 2008: budgetary surplus of $0.2 billion

Slow start for disabled accounts
Only one bank to offer registered disability savings plans within contribution deadline
December 20, 2008
For people with severe, long-term disabilities, there are only a few more banking days left in 2008 to take advantage of up to $4,500 in first-year grants and bonds under the federal government's new registered disability savings plan.Only one chartered bank – the Bank of Montreal – has announced it will open qualified RDSP accounts. But that starts on Monday, barely in time for people to meet the Dec. 31 contribution deadline.
Source:
Toronto Star

Registered Disability Savings Plan
The Registered Disability Savings Plan is a savings plan designed specifically for people with disabilities in Canada. The first of its kind in the world, this new tax-deferred savings vehicle will assist families in planning for the long - term financial security of their relatives with disabilities.
- incl. links to * What is it? * How do I qualify * Where do I get it?

RDSPs and provincial/territorial welfare:
In the determination of financial eligibility for needs-tested welfare or disability benefits, each province and territory decides how it will treat assets and income from various sources, both at the point of application and on an ongoing basis. The next link below opens a PDF file that provides a current (Dec. '08) overview of the treatment of the RDSP in all Canadian provinces and territories, and it includes links to the relevant source material in each jurisdiction.
Provincial/Territorial Updates
Registered Disability Savings Plan (PDF - 205K, 5 pages)
December 2008

Source:
Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network
Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN) is a non-profit organization, established in 1989 by and for families committed to future planning and securing a good life for their relative with a disability.
PLAN is the non-profit organization that proposed, researched, and campaigned for the RDSP.
PLAN created and maintains the RDSP website and the RDSP Blog.

Registered Disability Savings Plan
- incl. links to info about the Canada Disability Savings Grant, the Canada Disability Savings Bond and the RDSP
- also includes a link to Budget 2007 (Oct. 30/07) when the RDSP was first announced, and more...

2010 Homeless Champions
(Life in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver)
"This website is dedicated to telling the stories of the unfortunate individuals living in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver in the hope that awareness of this problem will spur people to get involved, to let all levels of government know that something has to be done to alleviate this misery rooted in addiction, homelessness and depravity. To point the way to recovery from addiction, which we believe is the root of most of this situation. With the 2010 Olympics coming to Vancouver it is our mandate to record the transition and the extreme changes that are even now occurring and will continue to unfold in the Downtown Eastside."

December 23, 2008 (under "New Products")
National Income and Expenditure Accounts, Quarterly Estimates, Third quarter 2008
This publication presents quarterly information on Canada's National Income and Expenditure Accounts (NIEA). It contains data on gross domestic product (GDP) by income and by expenditure, saving and investment, borrowing and lending of each of four broad sectors of the economy: (i) persons and unincorporated businesses, (ii) corporate and government business enterprises, (iii) governments and (iv) non-residents. Information is also provided for selected subsectors.
- incl. links to
* Full content in PDF (2.2MB, 150 pages)
* Main page
* Highlights
* More information
* Other issues in this series

December 22, 2008
Survey of Household Spending, 2007
Canadian households spent an average of $69,950 in 2007, up 3.3% from 2006. This increase was faster than the annual rate of inflation of 2.2% for 2007, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

December 22, 2008
Study: Immigrants' education and required job skills, 1991 to 2006
Established immigrants—those who had lived in Canada for between 11 and 15 years—had more difficulty finding jobs reflecting their educational attainment in 2006 than they did in 1991.

December 22, 2008
Payroll employment, earnings and hours, October 2008
The average weekly earnings of employees increased 0.3% from September to $801.24 in October. Compared with October 2007, average weekly earnings rose 3.0%. Between October 2007 and October 2008, among Canada's largest industrial sectors, earnings increased by 8.8% in accommodation and food services, 4.5% in health and social assistance, 3.5% in educational services, 1.8% in retail trade, and 1.7% in manufacturing.
[ Employment, Earnings and Hours - September 2008 ]
NOTE: The text in The Daily refers to the month of October, but the link is to September data.

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

Australian Government launches 12 year plan to reduce homelessness in Australia
Media Release
21 December 2008
The White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home, was launched today by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek. The White Paper outlines a plan for reducing homelessness in Australia by 2020, with specific goals to:
* Halve overall homelessness; and
* Provide accommodation to all rough sleepers who seek it.
There are currently 105,000 homeless people in Australia, of whom around 16,000 sleep rough.

The Australian Government's White Paper on Homelessness
On 21 December 2008, the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP and Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek MP, released the Government's White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home.
- incl. links to the full paper and executive summary, along with some background information on the development of the paper and a few links to more contextual material.

The Road Home : Homelessness White Paper
Contents:
* Foreword
* Background
* Executive Summary
* Chapter One: Scoping the Problem
* Chapter Two: The White Paper vision
* Chapter Three: Turning Off the tap
* Chapter Four: Improving and expanding services to end homelessness
* Chapter Five: Breaking the cycle
* Chapter Six: Research
* Chapter Seven: Implementation and governance
* Glossary
* End Notes

Australia releases ambitious plan to cut homelessness in half
December 22, 2008
By Michael Shapcott
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd introduced yesterday (Sunday) an ambitious plan to half the overall number of people who are homeless, and ensure that everyone who is sleeping outside has shelter. The plan, set out in a white paper called "The Road Home", includes $1.2 billion over four years in new spending - and is part of the Australian government's economic stimulus package that is designed to help people in that country weather the global economic crisis.
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ Wellesley Institute ]

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

9. Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion (CERC, Paris) Bulletin - selected recent content (December 15, 2008)
--- The dynamics of child poverty in Sweden - October 2008
--- Low-income children in the United States : National and state trend data, 1997-2007 - November 2008
--- Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2008 - December 2008
--- The working poor in Europe - 2008
--- Welfare and employment : A European dilemma? - December 2008
--- Fiscal effects of minimum wages : An analysis for Germany - November 2008
--- Minimum wages and their alternatives : A critical assessment - December 2008

From the Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion - Paris
Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale - CERC [version française]

Online Information Service
Information and online resources organized under five themes: Poverty * Social minima * In-work benefits * Minimum wage * Unemployment and return to work .
- includes links and resources for Canada...
HINT: click on the links in the right-hand margin of each theme page for more content

CERC Bulletins/Reports/Studies/Working papers
- Click on the links in the left margin of the CERC website home page for access to a large collection of online resources

CERC Bulletin - links to all CERC semi-monthly bulletins
Subscribe - To be informed of CERC activities and to receive the bulletin

Selected content from CERC Bulletin #168
(December 15, 2008)
(You'll find a link to the complete bulletin below...)

. The dynamics of child poverty in Sweden (PDF - 192K, 41 pages)
October 2008
By M. J. Lindquist and G. Sjögren Lindquist,
Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm
Summary:
The purpose of this paper is to study (empirically) the dynamics of child poverty in Sweden, the quintessential welfare state. We find that 1 out of every 5 children is disposable income poor at least once during his or her childhood, while only 2 percent of all children are chronically poor. We also document a strong life-cycle profile for child poverty. Approximately 8.6 percent of all children are born into poverty. The average poverty rate then drops to about 7.5 percent among 1- year old children. After which, it declines (monotonically) to about 3.8 percent among 17-year olds. Children in Sweden are largely protected (economically) from a number of quite serious events, such as parental unemployment, sickness and death. Family dissolution and long-term unemployment, however, do push children into poverty. But for most of these children, poverty is only temporary. Single mothers, for example, are overrepresented among the poor, but not among the chronically poor. Children with immigrant parents are strongly overrepresented among the chronically poor; as are children whose parents have unusually low educations. We argue that information about the dynamics of child poverty may help policy makers to construct more salient policies for fighting child poverty.
Geographical area : Sweden

23 December 2008 - CRINMAIL 1045
* MSF: Top Ten Humanitarian Crises of 2008 [publication]
* SAUDI ARABIA: Girl, eight, married off to 58-year-old is denied annulment [news]
* GREECE: Systematic failure to protect unaccompanied migrant children [publication]
* UNITED KINGDOM: Parliamentary joint committee to hold children's rights inquiry [event and call for submissions]
* NETHERLANDS: Seminar ILO C182 and Girl Child Labour [event and call for papers]
**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.

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!

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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:
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There are some that I don't agree with, so don't get on my case, eh...

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Cheers!
Gilles

E-MAIL:
gilseg@rogers.com

My New Year's Resolutions
Then and Now

2003: I will read at least 20 good books a year.
2004: I will read at least 10 books a year.
2005: I will read 5 books a year.
2006: I will finish The Pelican Brief
2007: I will read some articles in the newspaper this year.
2008: I will read at least one article this year.
2009: I will try and finish the comics section this year.

2003: I will get my weight down below 180.
2004: I will watch my calories until I get below 190.
2005: I will follow my new diet religiously until I get below 200.
2006: I will try to develop a realistic attitude about my weight.
2007: I will work out 5 days a week.
2008: I will work out 3 days a week.
2009: I will try to drive past a gym at least once a week.

2003: I will not spend my money frivolously.
2004: I will pay off my bank loan promptly.
2005: I will pay off my bank loans promptly.
2006: I will begin making a strong effort to be out of debt by 2008.
2007: I will be totally out of debt by 2010.
2008: I will try to pay off the debt interest by 2012.
2009: I will try to be out of the country by 2010.

2006: I will try to be a better husband to Marge.
2007: I will not leave Marge.
2008: I will try for a reconciliation with Marge.
2009: I will try to be a better husband to Wanda.

2006: I will stop looking at other women.
2007: I will not get involved with Wanda.
2008: I will not let Wanda pressure me into another marriage.
2009: I will stop looking at other women.

2006: I will not let my boss push me around.
2007: I will not let my sadistic boss drive me to the point of suicide.
2008: I will stick up for my rights when my boss bullies me.
2009: I will tell Dr. Hodger and the group about my boss.

2006: I will not get upset when Charlie makes jokes about my baldness.
2007: I will not get annoyed when Charlie kids me about my toupee.
2008: I will not get angry when Charle tells the guys I wear a girdle.
2009: I will not speak to Charlie.

2006: I will not take a drink before 5:00 p.m.
2007: I will not touch the bottle before noon.
2008: I will not become a "problem drinker".
2009: I will not miss any AA meetings.

2006: I will see my dentist this year.
2007: I will have my cavities filled this year.
2008: I will have my root canal work done this year.
2009: I will get rid of my denture breath this year.

2006: I will go to church every Sunday.
2007: I will go to church as often as possible.
2008: I will set aside time each day for prayer and meditation.
2009: I will try to catch the late night sermonette on TV.

My New Year's Resolutions Then and Now

My New Year's Resolutions
Then and Now