Most Current Research on Social Change in Canada

Most Current Research on Social Change in Canada

he Philippine Reporter believes that research matters. Hence, it is publishing information on some of the latest research gems significant to everyone.
These studies are lifted from the SPAR (Social Policy Analysis and Research) Monitor, an inventory of recent social research information relevant to social policy. — Editors

This bulletin is a quick inventory of recent social research information. Its purpose is to promptly disseminate the most current external and internal research relevant to social policy. It is published by City of Toronto’s Social Development, Finance and Aministration Division.

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We’re Not Asking, We’re Telling:

An inventory of practices promoting the dignity, autonomy, and self-determination of women and families facing homelessness, by Emily Paradis, Sherry Bardy, Patricia Cummings Diaz, Farida Athumani, and Ingrid Pereira, The Homeless Hub, 2012.

This study builds upon the findings of several recent participatory projects in which women facing homelessness have taken the lead and voiced their knowledge about the causes and consequences of, and the solutions to homelessness.

Some of the recommendations by women:

• Improvements in service providers’ sensitivity and accountability

• Better integration of services

• Fewer barriers to service

• Approaches based on empowerment, not control and surveillance

• Better recognition of their skills, knowledge and strengths by service providers

• That service promotes and respects their rights to dignity, autonomy and self determination.

For link to the report: http://www.homelesshub.ca/ResourceFiles/goodpractice_report.pdf

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Labour Force Update, Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative (TIEDI), September 2012.

This report aims to provide up-to-date labour market data on immigrants. This monthly report relies on data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) that is not available elsewhere free of charge. The report is broken down into sections covering labour market data for the Toronto CMA and Canada as a whole.

• When comparing the Toronto CMA labour market in September 2011 and September 2012, immigrants gained 62,500 jobs while Canadian-born gained 14,700 jobs

• For Canadian-born, 48,400 jobs were gained in the service-producing sector and 33,800 jobs were lost in the goods-producing sector

• For immigrants, notable job gains were found in educational services (26,900 jobs), manufacturing (26,500 jobs), and other services (10,400 jobs)

• The Canadian-born, job gains were found mostly in other services (21,400 jobs), health care and social assistance (18,700 jobs) and professional, scientific and technical services (12,300 jobs).

For link to the report: http://www.yorku.ca/tiedi/doc/lfs201209.pdf

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Growth in Health Consumption and its Implications for Financing OASDI: An International Perspective by Barry P. Bosworth and Gary Burtless, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, September 2012.

For more than a quarter century, the Social Security program has faced worsening long-run financial prospects. The estimated actuarial balance has declined from a small surplus in the immediate aftermath of the 1983 reforms to a deficit that is now estimated to be 2.7 percent of taxable payroll. Much of this deterioration can be traced to the increased benefit costs of an aging population and the inclusion of additional years in the projection period in which expected outlays will far outstrip predicted revenue.

• In 1983, the share of taxable wages in GDP has fallen by 6 percentage points, to 35 percent of GDP from 42 percent

• The ratio of taxable wages to employee compensation has dropped by 7 percentage points

• There has been a large shift in the distribution of wage income toward workers whose earnings exceed the taxable wage ceiling (currently $110,000)

• The rate of growth of employer payments for health insurance, which are excluded from the tax base, has far exceeded the rate of increase in earnings

• Although much of health care is a private-sector cost, its growth makes it an important funding competitor with Social Security, complicating efforts to resolve the retirement system’s future financial problems.

For link to the paper: http://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/wp_2012-12-508.pdf

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Regardless of the Cost, College Still Matters by Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney, Brookings on Job Numbers, October 5, 2012.

According to today’s employment report, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in September, falling below 8 percent for the first time since January 2009. As America continues its recovery from the Great Recession, there is an ongoing debate in the media and among policymakers about the value of a college degree in today’s economic climate.

• In this month’s analysis, The Hamilton Project confirms its previous findings that the returns to college attendance are much higher than other investments, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate

• Recent college graduates earn more money and have an easier time finding employment than their peers who only have a high school diploma

• In recent years—particularly in the aftermath of the Great Recession—college has become an increasingly important determinant of one’s employment status

• Today, a college graduate is almost 20 percentage points more likely to be employed than someone with only a high school diploma.

For link to the study: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/jobs/posts/2012/10/05-jobs-greenstone-looney?cid=em_alert10082012

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Filipinos in Canada: Disturbing Invisibility, edited by Roland Sintos Coloma, Bonnie McElhinny, Ethel Tungohan, John Paul C. Catungal, and Lisa M. Davidson, University of Toronto Press, September 2012.

Filipinos in Canada is the first wide-ranging edited collection of research on serious issues facing Filipino communities. It explores immigration and labour, education, cultural studies, women and gender, geography, history, political science, sociology, among others. This book is significant considering that as early as 2010, the Philippines had already become Canada’s largest source of short term and long term migrants, surpassing India and China.

The book will be officially launched on Friday, Oct. 19, 5-7 pm at OISE/UT Nexus Lounge (12th Floor). For further information, see link:
http://www.philippinereporter.com/2012/09/28/new-book-a-publishing-breakthrough/