---

IN THIS ISSUE OF THE
CANADIAN SOCIAL RESEARCH NEWSLETTER:

BONUS:

INEQUALITY IN CANADA: DRIVING FORCES, OUTCOMES AND POLICY

Conference
February 24, 2014 – February 25, 2014
Delta Ottawa City Centre
101 Lyon Street
Ottawa
- includes dozens of Powerpoint presenrtations and audio recordings of presentations at the conference.

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

Canadian content

1. Media and Policy News for February 28 (By Jennefer Laidley, Income Security Advocacy Centre)
2. Release of the Fiscal Monitor - December 2013 (Finance Canada) - February 28
3. 2014–15 Estimates : Parts I and II The Government Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat) - February 28
4. Canada’s Premiers Achieve Improvements in the Renewal of Funding for Skills Training (Council of the Federation) - February 28
5. University Governance (Nick Falvo, Carleton University) - February 27
6. SOUNDBITES e-Bulletin (Social Planning Toronto) - February 13
7. Recent releases from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives regarding income and wealth inequality in Canada
8. The Cost of Eating in BC 2011(Dietitians of Canada) - February 2012
9. Overview of Provincial (and Territorial) Welfare Reforms in the 1990s - October 1998
10. The CANSIM Crash Diet at Statistics Canada.
11. What's New in The Daily [Statistics Canada]:
--- Canadian Economic Accounts Quarterly Review (GDP by income and by expenditure, GDP by industry) - February 28
--- Payroll employment, earnings and hours, December 2013 - February 27
--- Study: The long-term labour market premiums associated with a postsecondary education, 1991 to 2010 - February 27
--- Shelters for abused women, 2012 - February 27
--- Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, July 1, 2013 - February 26
--- Survey of Financial Security, 2012 - February 25
--- Study: Emerging trends in living arrangements and conjugal unions for current and future seniors, 1981 to 2011 - February 24
12. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit

International content

13. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
14. [United States] Minimum Wage:
--- Raise the Wage (from the White House website)
--- The Economic Case for Raising the Minimum Wage (Council of Economic Advisers, The White House) - February 12
--- Business and the Minimum Wage (New York Times - February 27
15. The Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Five Years Later (Council of Economic Advisers, The White House) - February 2014
16. [International] UNICEF Report: U.S. Ranks 34th Out of 35 In Childhood Poverty - February 15
17. CRINMAIL (weekly children's rights newsletter)

Have a great week!

Gilles
[ http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/personal.htm ]
[ ]

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

Go to the home page of the
Canadian Social Research Links website:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/index.htm

1. Media and Policy News for February 28 (Jennefer Laidley, Income Security Advocacy Centre)

From Jennefer Laidley of the
Income Security Advocacy Centre:
[ ]

Latest Media and Policy News: 28 Feb 2014

Click the above link to access any of the articles below.

Top Stories

New IMF study shows taxing the rich is good for the economy
The top 15 Canadian companies that pay the least tax (as % of income)
Report shows Canadians with disabilities face "staggering barriers to success"
Video: The economic benefit of hiring people with disabilities
CCD proposal for a refundable disability tax credit
Ontario NDP releases its position on minimum wage (and small business tax cuts)
CCPA’s Trish Hennessy says its political theatre but bad policy
CCPA’s Kaylie Tiessen says it’s a toxic mix
Martin Regg Cohn gives two columns to Hudak’s Right-to-Work about-face
“It’s not a change of heart, just a political gut check”
And Hudak’s “muddled political judgment”
Federation of Canadian Municipalities survey reveals housing availability a big issue
Slum landlords pocketing rent money in Newfoundland and Labrador
StatsCan’s Survey of Financial Security reveals persistent economic inequality and rising debt
Andrew Jackson’s take
HuffPost
Carol Goar asks questions about a Basic Annual Income
The Big Push and Basic Income Canada respond to some
Materials from IRPP’s Feb 24-25 conference, “Inequality in Canada: Driving Forces, Outcomes and Policy”

Ontario

Workers Action Centre on the important legislation waiting in the pipeline on decent pay and decent work
Child care advocates gearing up for a fight against new childcare rules
MPP Jonah Schein: What Ontarians need is child care
Young workers offer solutions to Ontario’s youth unemployment problem
Ontario to make civil servants pay more for retirement benefits
Latest poll shows none of the parties would get a majority

Around the Province

One in ten Niagara families are worried about putting healthy food on the table
Feb 15 was a Day of Action to win a $14 minimum wage
Colette Murphy of Atkinson, on expecting community benefits from municipal infrastructure investments

Across the Country

Vancouver Sun Columnist Stephen Hume: In praise of taxes
BC is consulting on “reducing barriers and increasing accessibility” for people with disabilities
BC’s budget a missed opportunity to address the deficits that matter
Laid off Alberta oil sands workers say they were replaced with foreign workers making half their wage
Dispute over Canada Jobs Grant starting to impact employment services for people with disabilities in Nova Scotia

National

Feds cut EI benefits in Northern cities and huge increase in hours to qualify
NDP says federal tax policy based on “make believe accounting”
Poll shows federal Liberals riding high
Federal staff report says Canada’s middle class is mortgaging its future to stay afloat
More response to the federal budget
Advice to young workers: Get angry
Austerity for the many, prosperity for the few
The buried measure that will dismantle national health care
Why the federal budget is bad for women

International

Greek austerity measures leave one million desperate
NYT editorial: What the US stimulus plan accomplished
“I’m never going to be able to retire”
Egypt’s public transit workers on strike for the minimum wage
New study shows people with intellectual disabilities have twice the rate of unemployment as others in the US
United States ranks 34 of 35 developed countries on child poverty (note that Canada doesn't fare well either):
And, just because: “University of Chicago Hires Notorious Goldman Sachs Fraudster to Teach Economics to Undergrads”

---

Compiled by
Jennefer Laidley
Policy & Research Analyst
Income Security Advocacy Centre

---

Check the ISAC Media and Policy News archive:

(Back to August 2012, does not include a table of contents for each issue)

Check Gilles' expanded Media and Policy News archive:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/isac_media_scan.htm
(Back to April 2012, includes a table of contents for each issue)

Subscribe to ISAC's Latest Media and Policy News mailing list:

Subscribe to the main ISAC E-List (to receive info on ISAC's law reform work, the social assistance review, and other OW / ODSP -related information):

---

- Go to the Income Security Advocacy Centre Media Scan page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/isac_media_scan.htm

2. Release of the Fiscal Monitor - December 2013 - February 28 (Finance Canada)

Release of the Fiscal Monitor - December 2013

Government reports a $1.1-billion surplus in December, remains on track to balance the budget in 2015

February 28, 2014
News Release
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty today released The Fiscal Monitor for December 2013. There was a budgetary surplus of $1.1 billion in December 2013, compared with a deficit of $0.7 billion in December 2012. Revenues increased by $1.7 billion, or 7.9 per cent, reflecting increases in most revenue streams. Program expenses increased by $0.1 billion, or 0.5 per cent, while public debt charges decreased by $0.2 billion, or 9.6 per cent.

The Fiscal Monitor - December 2013
HTML version :
PDF version (228K, 12 pages):
Highlights:
December 2013: budgetary surplus of $1.1 billion
April to December 2013: budgetary deficit of $12.7 billion

[ Earlier editions of the Fiscal Monitor back to 1996:
]

Source:
Finance Canada

---

- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Agriculture to Finance) page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk.htm

–15 Estimates : Parts I and II The Government Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates - February 28 (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat)

From
Finance Canada:

Department of Finance Releases Annual Tax Expenditures and Evaluations Report

February 27, 2014
News Release
The Department of Finance today released the 2013 Tax Expenditures and Evaluations report. This report provides estimates and projections of the revenue impacts of federal tax measures designed to support the economic and social priorities of the Government of Canada.It also includes a statistical perspective on flow-through shares as well as a paper on the taxation of small businesses in Canada.

The release of today’s report coincides with the tabling of the Main Estimates (see below) in the House of Commons by the President of the Treasury Board.

Source:
Finance Canada

---

From Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat:

Government of Canada Tables Main Estimates with $800-Million Decrease in Planned Voted Expenditures

News Release
February 27, 2014
Today, the Government of Canada tabled the 2014–2015 Main Estimates in the House of Commons. This year's Main Estimates reflect a steady decrease in voted appropriations, with this year's voted budgetary amount down nearly $800 million from last year.

Estimates
Parts I and II : The Government Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates
HTML version :
PDF version (1.3MB, 396 pages) :
Excerpt:
The Estimates are comprised of three parts:
Part I – Government Expenditure Plan – provides an overview of the Government’s requirements and changes in estimated expenditures from previous fiscal years.
Part II – Main Estimates – supports the appropriation acts with detailed information on the estimated spending and authorities being sought by each federal organization requesting appropriations.
Part III – Departmental Expenditure Plans – consists of two components: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports

Additional Information:

2014–15 Statutory Forecasts
HTML :
PDF (197 KB) :

2014–15 Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Objects
HTML :
PDF (89 KB) :

2014–15 Budgetary Expenditures by Strategic Outcome and Program
HTML :
PDF (246 KB) :

Source:
Government Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates Publications

- main page for links to Main Estimates publications for the current year and back to 1996–97

---

Estimates Publications and Appropriation Acts

Everything you wanted to know about the federal government expenditure management process but were afraid to ask...
- includes the Government Expenditure Plan (overview of federal spending) and Main Estimates ( list of the financial resources required by individual departments, agencies and Crown corporations for the upcoming fiscal year), along with Departmental Expenditure Plans.
Recommended reading for number-crunchers --- includes riveting (if you can stay awake) reading, e.g., Reports on Plans and Priorities (expenditure plans for each department and agency, excluding Crown corporations) and Departmental Performance Reports (individual department and agency accounts of actual accomplishments against plans, priorities and expected results set out in their respective Report on Plans and Priorities. If you're still reading this, then you'll definitely be interested in the Supplementary Estimates section --- and much more!

Source:
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

4. Canada’s Premiers Achieve Improvements in the Renewal of Funding for Skills Training - February 28 (Council of the Federation)

Canada’s Premiers Achieve Improvements in the Renewal of Funding for Skills Training

TORONTO, February 28, 2014 - Premiers are committed to creating good jobs and driving economic growth through a skilled and productive workforce, and providing Canadians support to contribute to Canada’s economic prosperity. By working together, Canada’s Premiers have achieved a modest number of changes to the federal government’s proposed Canada Job Grant* - changes which minimize the negative impact of the initial federal proposal. Although Premiers still share important concerns about the design of the Canada Job Grant, they are prepared to move ahead with implementation discussions on the basis of the compromise which has been worked out.
(...)

* Québec has already indicated that it intends to opt out of the Canada Job Grant initiative with full compensation.

Source:
Council of the Federation

---

Related links:

Canada Job Grant

Canada's Economic Action Plan

---

Ottawa, provinces reach deal on Canada Job Grant

By Bill Curry
The Globe and Mail
Februar 28, 2014
After some last minute arm-twisting with Nova Scotia, federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney has secured a deal with all provinces and territories except Quebec to launch a Canada Job Grant. More detailed talks with each province are still to come, but the stage is set for Canadians to access training grants of up to $15,000 later this year to help land a new or better job.

Source:
The Globe and Mail

---

- Go to the Council of the Federation Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/council_fed.htm

5. University Governance - February 27 (Nick Falvo, Carleton University)

University Governance

By Nick Falvo
February 27, 2014
This afternoon I spoke on a panel on university governance at a conference titled Future U: Creating the Universities We Want, organized by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.

Future U: Creating the Universities We want
My speaking notes (Powerpoint presentation):

* The Basics. Typically in Canada, a university has both a board of governors (BoG) and a senate. The former has responsibility for both “administrative and fiscal matters,” while the latter has responsibility for “academic matters.”

* Internal vs. External Members. Approximately one-third of a university’s BoG members usually consists of “internal” members (i.e. students, faculty and staff). The other two-thirds of a BoG’s members typically come from outside the university community, and are sometimes referred to as “external” members.

* External Members. One advantage of having external members on a BoG is that they often bring expertise on various topics, including finance, auditing, capital projects and communications. However, a drawback of external members (in my opinion) is that they sometimes are quite distant from some of the day-to-day concerns of a university.

* Information Flow. As Robert F. Clift has pointed out, a university’s president (i.e. the university’s most senior staff person) is very much in control of what information makes its way to a university’s BoG. It is therefore important for BoG members to make a presence on campus, read campus newspapers, and talk to students, staff and faculty.

* Access to Board Members. Many BoGs in Canada feature very basic information about their members online. However, in many cases, contact information is not available for BoG members at a university’s web site.

* Inner Boards. If a BoG is not careful, an ‘inner board’ (consisting of, say, four or five BoG members) can emerge, effectively relegating the rest of the BoG to the status of an advisory committee. This appears to be what happened at Concordia a few years ago.

Meeting Minutes. Any university BoG that is serious about board transparency has a rather clear path it could take: it could simply direct its recording secretary to produce a detailed version of minutes of each meeting.

Source:
Progressive Economics Forum Blog

---

- Go to the Canadian Universities and Colleges Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/univbkmrk.htm

6. SOUNDBITES e-Bulletin - February 13 (Social Planning Toronto)

SOUNDBITES e-Bulletin
February 13, 2013

[NOTE : Click the link above to access any of the articles below and related links]

This issue:

* City Budget Roundup 2014
* Commitment2Community
* SPT in the News- "Civic leaders support call for Toronto anti-poverty plan"
* SPT Board of Directions- Call for Nominations
* Last call for nominations and tickets available for Frances Lankin Award Night
* SPT Executive Director Breakfast- March 5
* Social Planning Network of Ontario- National Household Survey
* SPT Membership
* News from our Partners
* Interesting Reads
* Worth Repeating: "Budgets should help citizens, not just 'taxpayers'"

More issues of SOUNDBITES
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk4.htm#spt
- this link will take you further down on the page you're now reading.

SPT Member Organizations

- links to over 130 member organizations in Toronto, from ACCESS EMPLOYMENT to YWCA of Greater Toronto

Source:
Social Planning Toronto

For more than 50 years, SPT and its predecessor organizations have served as a vital voice for the non-profit community sector in Toronto – conducting research and supporting community mobilization that has made a real difference for our organizations, our communities, and the most vulnerable residents in our city.

---

- Go to the Ontario Municipal and Non-Governmental Sites (O-Z) page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onbkmrk4.htm

7. Recent releases from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives regarding income and wealth inequality in Canada

New from the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

Wealth Inequality: Going from bad to (net) worth

February 26, 2014
By David Macdonald
Yesterday, Statistics Canada [ ] released its 2012 wealth survey (Survey of Financial Security : ). Two previous wealth surveys were published in 2005 and 1999 with a similar methodology. We often talk about income inequality, which examines what middle class and rich Canadians make in a year. However, wealth inequality examines middle class and rich Canadians’ net worth, including their house, RRSPs, savings, car, etc. If income inequality—where the top 20% of families get 43% of the income— is concerning, then wealth inequality should be downright shocking. The top 20% of families in Canada own 67% of all net wealth (although this is down slightly from the high of 69% of all wealth in 2005).

Related posts:

• The Financial Wealth of Canada’s Top 1% (October 24, 2011, by Marc Lee)

• Wealth and income in the top 1% ( October 20, 2011, by Marc Lee)

• Dispelling Middle-class Myths (April 26, 2011, by Armine Yalnizyan)

• Toronto-Centre: Ground Zero for Canada’s Income Inequality Debate (November 19, 2013, by Trish Hennessy)

• Atlantic Canada’s story of inequality (January 30, 2013, by Christine Saulnier)

Source:
Behind the Numbers : A Blog from the CCPA

Behind The Numbers delivers timely, progressive commentary on issues that affect Canadians, including the economy, poverty, inequality, climate change, budgets, taxes, public services, employment and much more.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social, economic and environmental justice.

---

- Go to the Income and Wealth Inequality Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/inequality.htm

8. The Cost of Eating in BC 2011- February 2012 (Dietitians of Canada)

The Cost of Eating in BC 2011 Report (PDF file - 4.6MB, 16 pages)

February 2012
Excerpt:
The Cost of Eating in BC has been published for over a decade to detail how much it costs for individuals and families in BC to access an adequate amount of food, to relate this cost to income, and to consider the reasons why many people cannot meet this basic need.

In 2011, the provincial average cost of the nutritious food basket for a family of four is $868.43 per month. Those earning minimum wage, receiving income assistance, or facing other challenges (high rents, child care, or transportation costs, for example) struggle to find ways to purchase food as well as meet their other basic needs.

In the ten years that the Cost of Eating in BC Report has been published, the situation has only gotten worse for individuals and families earning low wages or receiving government assistance...

From the Dietitians of Canada:

---

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

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

9. Overview of Provincial (and Territorial) Welfare Reforms in the 1990s - October 1998

Overview of Provincial (and Territorial)
Welfare Reforms in the 1990s
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/1990s_welfare_reforms.htm
October 1998
I stumbled across these research notes while searching for something on my computer's hard drive. I produced the notes in 1996-97 while I was on a one-year secondment with the the National Council of Welfare (NCW) [ http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ncw.htm ] as material to use in the NCW's report entitled Another Look at Welfare Reform (1997). I co-wrote this report with Steve Kerstetter, then-Director of the NCW.
HINT: There's a WEALTH of information on provincial-territorial welfare reforms in these pages that didn't make it to the final report!

NOTE : This PDF file is a companion document to:

Another Look at Welfare Reform (PDF - 6.75MB, 134 pages)
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/1997_another_look_at_welfare_reform.pdf
By Steve Kerstetter and Gilles Séguin
Autumn 1997
- an in-depth analysis of changes in Canadian welfare programs in the 1990s. The report focuses on the provincial and territorial reforms that preceded the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan and those that followed the implementation of the Canada Health and Social Transfer in April 1996.

---

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

- Go to the Welfare and Welfare Reforms in Canada page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/welref.htm

10. The CANSIM Crash Diet at Statistics Canada.

WARNING: If you're not a number-crunching social policy historian who believes
in accountability and transparency, you might just want to skip the following rant.

---

And another one gone
And another one gone,
Another one bites the dust.
[Source : Queen]

---

Statistics Canada's world-class data collection has been trimmed, again.
February 24, 2014
By Gilles:
As a result of the 2012 federal budget cuts, there are now 2,000+ fewer workers at StatCan [ ] --- out of a workforce of about 5,000.
The 2012 budget cuts are leading directly to reductions in the amount of public information StatsCan collects and produces, and they could lead to data collection and processing services being contracted out (if they're not already doing it...)

The latest victim of the budget cuts is the collection of tables in the CANSIM database.
Here's a sample deleted table:
TERMINATED: Table Government transfer payments to persons, provincial economic accounts

On this table, you'll find five years' worth (2005 to 2009) of national statistics PLUS archives going back to 1981 on federal and provincial government transfer payments to individuals and organizations for almost 20 programs, from Old Age Security to Employment Insurance (federal) and Workers' Compensation to Social Assistance (provincial/territorial).
TERMINATED.
WTF?

---

I went to the CANSIM home page [ ] looking for an announcement regarding what other CANSIM tables had bitten the dust and when. There was not one word on the home page about the CANSIM Crash Diet. If you'd like to know the full extent of the terminated tables for the complete collection, you'll have to drill down each of the 31 topics on the home page to see the specific tables. I checked only a few categories, but the number of deleted/terminated tables was depressing.
[ *Terminated* tables appear in a grey box at the end of each subsection. ]

A few examples:

For the category "Aboriginal peoples" : 4 tables terminated out of a total of 7
For the category "Children and youth" : 89 tables terminated out of a total of 130
For the category "Families, households and housing" : 67 tables terminated out of a total of 112
For the category "Government" : 62 tables terminated out of a total of 141
For the category "Income, pensions, spending and wealth" : 41 tables terminated out of a total of 167
For the category "Seniors" : 13 tables terminated out of a total of 30

---

One of StatCan's two stated objectives is "To provide statistical information and analysis about Canada’s economic and social structure to develop and evaluate public policies and programs and to improve public and private decision-making for the benefit of all Canadians." (The second objective is "To promote sound statistical standards and practices...").
Source:
ABOUT CANSIM
[

How much longer will StatCan be considered world class, I wonder...

---

And while we're lamenting the passing of rich online resources that the federal government has recently terminated, here are a few other reports that are now accessible only via an archiving site like Archive.org [ ] :

[R.I.P.] Social Assistance Statistical Report: 2008

Social Assistance Statistical Report: 2008 is the fifth annual joint publication by federal, provincial and territorial governments. This report includes a description of, and statistics related to, the welfare system in each province and territory, information about federal-provincial-territorial jurisdictional and funding issues, a bit of historical info on the Canada Assistance Plan and the Canada Health and Social Transfer, etc.

[R.I.P.] Social Security Statistics, Canada and Provinces, 1978-79 to 2002-03

This report offers 25 years of longitudinal data on costs and numbers of beneficiaries for most programs - over 100 tables - covering a large number of programs --- here's a partial list : Child Tax Benefit, Family Allowances, the Child Tax Credit, Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement/Spouse's Allowance ("The Allowance"), Federal Training and Employment Programs, Federal Goods and Services Tax Credit, the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans, War Veterans' and Civilian War Allowances, Veterans' and Civilians' Disability Pensions, Unemployment/Employment Insurance, the Canada Assistance Plan, Workers' Compensation, Youth Allowances, Social Assistance and Social Services for Registered Indians --- and more...

---

- Go to the Social Statistics Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/stats.htm

11. What's New in The Daily [Statistics Canada]: --- Canadian Economic Accounts Quarterly Review (GDP by income and by expenditure, GDP by industry) - February 28 --- Payroll employment, earnings and hours, December 2013 - February 27 --- Study: The long-term labour market premiums associated with a postsecondary education, 1991 to 2010 - February 27 --- Shelters for abused women, 2012 - February 27 --- Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, July 1, 2013 - February 26 --- Survey of Financial Security, 2012 - February 25 --- Study: Emerging trends in living arrangements and conjugal unions for current and future seniors, 1981 to 2011 - February 24

What's new from The Daily:

Past issues of The Daily

[Statistics Canada
]

---

February 28, 2014
Canadian Economic Accounts Quarterly Review - main page

Click "View" for the latest quarter or "Chronological index" for earlier periods.

GDP by income and by expenditure - Fourth quarter 2013

Real GDP expanded 0.7% in the fourth quarter, the same increase as in the third quarter. Final domestic demand rose 0.3% in the fourth quarter, as household and government final consumption expenditure increased while business gross fixed capital formation declined.

GDP by industry - Fourth quarter 2013

Source:
Canadian Economic Accounts Quarterly Review

February 27, 2014
Payroll employment, earnings and hours, December 2013

Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $933 in December, up 0.9% from the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, weekly earnings increased 2.9%.

February 27, 2014
Study: The long-term labour market premiums associated with a postsecondary education, 1991 to 2010

A new study that followed a group of men and women for two decades reports that over the study period, men who had obtained a bachelor's degree by 1991 had earned, on average, $732,000 more than those whose education ended at a high school diploma. For women, the difference between the two groups was $448,000.

[ Complete study : ]

February 27, 2014
Shelters for abused women, 2012

On April 18, 2012, the Transition Home Survey (THS) identified 601 shelters for abused women operating across Canada. On that survey snapshot date, there were 4,566 women and 3,570 dependent children residing in these facilities. Almost three-quarters of these women (74%) were at the shelters primarily because of abuse, representing a rate of 23 women per 100,000 women aged 15 and older in Canada.

February 26, 2014
Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, July 1, 2013
On July 1, 2013, 24,517,700 people, or over two-thirds (69.7%) of the Canadian population, were living in a census metropolitan area (CMA). Canada's three largest CMAs together (Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver) were home to more than one in three Canadians (35.2%).

February 25, 2014
Survey of Financial Security, 2012
The median net worth of Canadian family units was $243,800 in 2012, up 44.5% from 2005.
Excerpt:
One way of looking at the distribution of net worth is to divide family units into five groups, from lowest net worth to highest, with each quintile representing 20% of all family units. There were differences in both the median net worth among the quintiles and the magnitude of the change over time. Those in the lowest quintile had a median net worth of $1,100 in 2012, while those in the highest quintile had a median net worth of almost $1.4 million.

- includes four tables:
Table 1 --- Total and median net worth by age and family type
Table 2 --- Assets, debts and net worth held by all family units in Canada
Table 3 --- Distribution and median net worth by quintile
Table 4 --- Debt per $100 of assets by age of major income recipient and family type

Related CANSIM tables:

Table :
Table :

---

Related subjects:

Income, pensions, spending and wealth

Household assets, debts and wealth

Household spending and savings

Household, family and personal income

Related links:

Canada’s family wealth gains look “fragile”

By Don Curran
February 26, 2014
(This article originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal.)
If you divide Canadian families up into fifths in terms of net worth, the lowest quintile had net assets of about 1,300 Canadian dollars ($1,170) in 1999. In 2012, it was actually below that; the overall worth of the lowest 20% of families declined 15.4% to C$1,100 by 2012, according to the “Survey of Financial Security” from Statistics Canada. It’s a stark indication Canada is not immune the drift toward economic inequality in evidence in many other economies around the world.

Also from
The Broadbent Blog:

New StatsCan wealth data points to persistent economic inequality

By Andrew Jackson
February 25, 2014
(...) While Canadian’s net worth has increased significantly since 2005, mostly due to increases in housing prices, the real story is one of persistent economic inequality and rising debt. The top twenty percent of Canadians have over 67% of the net wealth. The bottom 60%, in contrast, have only 11.1% percent of net wealth. (...) Overall, the distribution is slightly better than in 2005, but remains very unequal.

Source:
The Broadbent Blog

The Broadbent Institute

---

Canadian families’ net worth rises, but so does their debt

By Tavia Grant
February 25, 2014
A new study paints a picture of both rising net worth and swelling debt levels. All told, the median net worth of Canadian families climbed 44.5 per cent to $243,800 in 2012 from seven years earlier, adjusted for inflation, Statistics Canada’s survey of financial security shows. (Net worth reflects the amount family units would have if they sold their assets and paid all of their debt.)

Source:
The Globe and Mail

---

- Go to the Income and Wealth Inequality Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/inequality.htm

February 24, 2014
Study: Emerging trends in living arrangements and conjugal unions for current and future seniors, 1981 to 2011

Between 1981 and 2011, the share of seniors 65 years of age and older who lived with their spouse or partner increased, while the overall share of those in other living arrangements decreased. The conjugal lives of seniors also changed, as the proportion of those who were divorced or separated rose from 4% to 12% over the period.

Check past issues of The Daily:

Select a month and year from the two drop-down menus to access all issues of The Daily for a particular month.

12. What's new from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit

What's new from the
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU):

March 2, 2014
What's new online this week:

13. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs (Institute for Research on Poverty - University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Poverty Dispatch (U.S.)

The Poverty Dispatch is a daily scan of U.S. web-based news items dealing with topics such as poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.. The Dispatch is distributed by the Institute for Research on Poverty, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. News articles from online newspapers are posted here in a number of general categories, and are tagged with more specific keywords relevant to each article.