...i a l Tr e n d s September 2012 Income Inequality in Canada: How does Manitoba compare? Can we do better? The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has been documenting the rise in inequality in Canada since 2006. More recently, the Conference Board of Canada and the OECD have confirmed this trend. These organizations also report that inequality in Canada is now increasing faster than is the case in many other countries. In their highly acclaimed 2009 book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Wilkinson and Pickett showed the impact of inequality on a variety of measures such as levels of crime, teenage pregnancies, life expectancy and educational achievement (to name a few). The study concluded that countries that are most equal do best. If Canada wants to measure up to more equal countries, the growing gap between rich and poor will need to be addressed. The federal government has the most important role to play in redressing the imbalance. CCPA and others have suggested how poverty and inequality can be tackled through improved policies and programs, and better redistribution of wealth through taxes and transfers at the federal level. But provincial governments also have a responsibility. A recent study in Ontario shows that province to be the most unequal. Our analysis looks at the trend in inequality across Canada with a focus on measuring progress in Manitoba for individuals earning market incomes. As do the authors of the Ontario study...
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...and I have always been very interested to learn more about the correlation between economic growth, income distribution and a flourishing society. In his paper on Economic Growth and Income Inequality, Gallo (2002) refers to the theory of the famous Political Economist Adam Smith who states that "no society can be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable." (Gallo, 2002). He further explains that whenever there is a high inequality in income distribution, there is a decline in economic prosperity. This implies that countries should strive towards bringing equality of income among their population to ensure economic growth and the welfare of their nation. Income inequality however, is a fact of life and exists all over the world....
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...Introduction In my final paper I will be discussing the health inequality in the social stratification in Canada and how our socioeconomic status can affect our health to be good or poor. Our health is determined by society and what level of power, authority and accomplishment that people achieve in the social hierarchy. In my essay I will be addressing and comparing the health inequalities people in different scale in the social economic face when it comes to income, education, housing, transportation, employment and health service. These are just the few things that effect our ability of achieve good health. I will also explain how race and immigrants can also determines inequalities, when it comes to their health, especially people of color...
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...Introduction Canada boasts about being a multi-cultural mosaic, a land of opportunity, with a vision to build “a stronger Canada – a safe and secure country with a shared bond of citizenship and values; a country that continues to support our humanitarian tradition and draws the best from the world to help build a nation that is economically, socially and culturally prosperous” (Government of Canada, 2011). Yet a look at the income statistics for Canadian immigrants makes one wonder whom is prospering economically. Are Canadian immigrants given equal economic opportunity when they arrive here, or are they subject to economic inequality? To answer this question, one can first look at earnings statistics and reports from Statistics Canada. This information can provide basic earnings information on immigrants, which will show how much Canadian immigrants earn in comparison to their native Canadian counterparts. A few drawbacks of using this information are that the statistics haven’t been updated since 2006, so the numbers may not be completely accurate, and numbers alone do not tell the whole story. As such, peer reviewed research articles and papers on the subject of economic inequality in Canadian immigrants can be used. These articles and papers provide both qualitative and quantitative information that paints a clearer picture of the situation. However, many of these papers are usually biased towards writer’s point-of-view, so there may be a lack of complete information...
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...Question 1:__________________________________________________________________________ There are many key issues pressing on Canadians for a wide variety of reasons. One of the largest and most debated issues is the Canadian Healthcare system. The main concerns of both the government and the people are the extraordinary costs that are required by tax payers to maintain the system. Another concern is the long wait times required by patients due to the ease of access to healthcare. I have some suggestions to not only save money, but also to reduce wait times. My first suggestion is to increase the budget for homecare and senior care. Senior citizens make up a very large portion of healthcare patients. Increasing financial support of homecare could reduce the number of hospitalized seniors by providing in home support in the form of Personal Support Workers, Registered Practical Nurse’s, Registered Nurse’s and visiting doctors. The average cost of a hospitalization for one day is $7,000. By providing visiting nursing/ doctors we could reduce that cost to $25-$500 per day depending on the care needed. A second suggestion would be to introduce the very much debated 2-tier system (allowing private hospitals, in addition to the public hospitals currently in place). By introducing this system, all patients would...
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...This paper will explore the roles that gender and feminism plays alongside other determinants to affect the health status of Aboriginal Canadian women. Determinants of health refer to the circumstances in which people are born, live, grow, work, and age, that are responsible for most of the health inequalities that exist. Common determinants contributing to sub-par health status include: early child development, education, income, employment, social and physical environment, personal health practices and coping skills, access to health services, racism, and gender. These determinants work alongside Aboriginal-specific determinants like cultural identity, self-determination, and colonialism to create significant health discrepancies compared to non-Aboriginal Canadians. Aboriginal women are at an even greater disadvantage because of the role gender plays on top of the other determinants. The term gender refers to the socially constructed perceptions of feminine and masculine and is not to be confused with sex, which refers to the biological differences between men and women (Steckley and Letts 2010). While the two are different concepts, they are closely related and do influence each other because while biology may condition behaviour, it is in turn conditioned by the social environment (Halseth 2013). Health is also a social construct and issue, rather than simply a medical and technical problem associated with body parts and their functions. Because it is defined by and shaped...
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...There are several reasons which leads to the rising of wealth and income inequality. The first reason is outsourcing becomes more popular in many countries including Canada, because of the development of technology and globalization. Nearly 130 positions in the Toronto financial department of CIBC outsourced to Indian employees (cbc news,2017). It is clearly that this phenomenon eliminates available jobs to Canadian employees. The question is how students can afford to pay the debt from their education if they cannot get job. At the end, only employer benefits from that situation, more money will be made from outsourcing. As a result, the rich is richer, and the poor is poorer. Second, education background has an enormous impact on the shifting of workforce from low-skills to high-skills group. Over the past decades,...
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...]Start ith broad on income inequality in Canada, we can see the difference between the top 10% of earners and the rest of the population. The majority of economic growth went to the richest 10%. The top 1% acquired 12.2% of all incomes. All Canadian families, save for the top 10%, were working more hours compared to about 10 years ago, but incoms stopped lack of growth negatively affected the middle class. This squeeze came in the form of 30 years of stuck wages, increases in housing prices, high debt, low-savings, more precarious work, two income households, and a decrease in unionization rates of 8% over the last 10 years. The poorest in Canada did much worse. Canada’s poorest work more hours too, but their earnings fell from about 15000 in 1978to 10000n 2007 iequality, regard the workplace and workforce, refer to state of being which involves an absence of opportunity, fairness, and equality, coupled with the presence of extreme variability for a person or group. This extreme variability in work related conditions can lead to the development of strong feelings of insecurity in any person who has experienced such inequality. Insecurity is a feeling or situation people may experience where there is uncertainty, instability, a lack of safe work condition, and feel doubt about work etc. One can argue that inequality leads to insecurity or vice versa; where negative experiences, continuing over extended periods in the market, lead to another group of negative experiences...
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...Canada, by international standards is a rich country; however, Canada has plenty of families struggling to make ends meet. It can be seen in “The Health of Canada’s Children” by Dennis Raphael, (2010) many social determinants influence health. One of the major determinants of health is living circumstances. The many different qualities of living within Canada have resulted in the health inequalities among children. This article in particular gives the reader the information needed to understand how living circumstances come about as well as how they affect health. Infant mortality rate or the number of newborns who die within their first year of life is considered to be one of the best ways to judge how healthy a population is. Low birth weight is also very important because it is affiliated with a wide range of health problems throughout a person’s lifespan. While there are many circumstances that play a role in infant mortality and low birth weight, a major component is living conditions the expected mothers are exposed to. This can be linked to the financial status of the parents. In Canada, the infant mortality rate is 60% higher and the low birth rate is 43% higher in the poorest income quintile than the richest quintile (Raphael, 2010). The effects of income on health are best portrayed by the living conditions to which children are exposed to. Income not only has a direct relationship with children’s health but various developmental outcomes as well. Income is a...
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...One of the many issues around the world is poverty and inequality, and while it might not be evident in Canada and Toronto specifically, some people still suffer in lower income areas in the GTA. Many people as you may see are on the streets and as the weather gets colder, it becomes even more difficult for them. Part of the reason poverty is because many people in the lower class can’t afford rent or the taxes of their homes. In a recent study conducted, it showed the percentage of taxes that people with a certain income had to pay yearly. It showed that individuals receiving an income of less than $14,000 paid about 31% of their income in tax, while people making over $300,000 paid a slightly lower percentage. This doesn’t make any sense,...
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...2008 by Sherry A. Glied. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. Health Care Financing, Efficiency, and Equity Sherry A. Glied NBER Working Paper No. 13881 March 2008 JEL No. H42,H51,I18 ABSTRACT This paper examines the efficiency and equity implications of alternative health care system financing strategies. Using data across the OECD, I find that almost all financing choices are compatible with efficiency in the delivery of health care, and that there has been no consistent and systematic relationship between financing and cost containment. Using data on expenditures and life expectancy by income quintile from the Canadian health care system, I find that universal, publicly-funded health insurance is modestly...
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...dreadful chapter in Canadian history and for most of the world. Many suffered as a result. Canadians lost their jobs as companies struggled to maintain a profit. In Canada, the incomes of families fell by over fifty percent. (Income Inequality in Canada) At the same time, farmers in the Prairies also suffered through a decrease in price for wheat. There were various factors that influenced the occurrence of this tragic event. For instance, the overproduction in industrial and agricultural activities. Furthermore, the stock market crash and the improper usage of credit also created a dent in the Canadian economy. In addition, Canada’s dependence on international trade was another innovator for this disastrous affair....
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...publicly-funded single-pay system which covers costs deemed medically necessary for every citizen/resident regardless of their ability to pay. While the American health care is a multi-payer system based on the patient’s finances. I argue That Canadian Health Care system is better than the American Health Care system. In the Canadian system the citizens will pay far less than they would ever pay if they were being treated for any sickness or receiving any medical services in the United States. It is clear that the Canadian health system is better than the American counterpart as the reported Life expectancy is higher in Canada by more than 2 years, 82.4 years for women and 77.4 years for men when compared to the American life expectancy, 80.1 years for women and 74.8 years for men. Also infant mortality is lower in Canada when compared to the United States, 5.3 in Canada (deaths per 1000 live births) and 6.8 in United States. (O'Neill & O'Neill, 2007) Thesis: Addressing Health Care Issues Regardless of the superiority of the Canadian Health Care system over that of the American system the current Canadian system is far too outdated to adequately...
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...Poverty and Social Inequality ‘Inequality remains a significant part of life in contemporary Britain’ Some argue that Britain is the most unequal society in Western Europe, Research conducted by Sutton Trust from 2010 suggests that poverty affects children’s ability to do well in schools, the study indicates that just 45 per cent of children from poorest fifth of families were ready to read daily by the age of three compared to 78 per cent of children from richest fifth of families. This proves that British society is unequal; there are social groups that have access to better standards of living than others (Morning Star Online 2010) In order for Inequality to take place, some people need to have more than others, creating boundaries in society that stop some people from getting equal status despite their work and effort. There are several ways of measuring social class, subjective method simply is based on people’s perception of what social class they should be in. However it is quite vague as some people may be middle class and have a lot of money whereas other might have education, lifestyle and manners of the middle class but are poor. Where objective method takes things into account like occupation, unemployment, income, education and so on therefore it is more reliable way of measuring social class. In order to measure social class effectively, stratification is needed to enable evaluation of inequalities; best way to do it is consider morbidity and mortality factors...
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...The American Dream is the idea that each and every single individual has an equal opportunity to achieve success through determination and hard work. America has long been seen as a place where anyone, despite his or her circumstances, can thrive in society as long as he or she puts in enough hard work. However, some now argue that equality is diminishing and being replaced by inequality. In “American Dream? Or Mirage?”, by Michael Kraus, Shai Davidai, and A. David Nussbaum, and “It’s Now the Canadian Dream”, by Nicholas Kristof, the authors discuss the concept of the American dream in very different ways. The authors of “American Dream? Or mirage?” explain and analyze why most Americans are unconcerned with the economic inequality in the...
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