Rich countries let poorest children fall behind, By Laurie Monsebraaten, December 2, 2010, Toronto Star: “Canadian children suffer greater income inequality than most developed nations, says a new UNICEF report being released Friday. The report, which for the first time ranks 24 countries in the Organization for Economic and Co-operative Development (OECD) in terms of equality in children’s health, education and material well-being, shows children in many rich nations are being left behind. ‘Falling behind is a critical issue not only for millions of individual children today, but for the economic and social future of their nations tomorrow,’ the report argues. The report, entitled, ‘The Children Left Behind,’ looked at inequality in child well-being by measuring the gap between the average child and the most disadvantaged children in three aspects of their lives – material well-being, educational achievement and physical health…”
Day: December 3, 2010
US November Unemployment Rate
- Recovery jolt: few new jobs as jobless rate rises to 9.8%, By Motoko Rich, December 3, 2010, New York Times: “In a jolting surprise to the economic recovery and market expectations, the United States economy added just 39,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, according to the Department of Labor. November’s number was nowhere near enough to help the large ranks of the unemployed, and was far below analysts’ consensus forecast of close to 150,000 jobs and an unchanged jobless rate of 9.6 percent. More than 15 million people remain out of work, and 6.3 million of them have been unemployed for six months or longer…”
- Unemployment jumps, job creation slows. Is economic stall-out here?, By Ron Scherer, December 3, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “The American jobs machine seems to have slipped into slow-motion mode in November. The US economy gained a disappointing 39,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, up from 9.6 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. This was a sharp drop-off from October, when the nation’s economy added 172,000 jobs. The report was a surprise to many economists, who had expected much better numbers given that recent statistics indicated that the economy was showing some signs of strength. Retailers, for example, have in recent days reported better-than-expected sales, but the jobs report showed a loss of 28,000 jobs in the sector. Moreover, some recent surveys pointed to greater optimism among consumers and businesses, but the November report showed very few sectors adding jobs, stagnant worker hours, and a rising tide of unemployed workers…”
Programs for the Poor and Corruption – India
Indian state empowers poor to fight corruption, By Lydia Polgreen, December 2, 2010, New York Times: “The village bureaucrat shifted from foot to foot, hands clasped behind his back, beads of sweat forming on his balding head. The eyes of hundreds of wiry village laborers, clad in dusty lungis, were fixed upon him. A group of auditors, themselves villagers, read their findings. A signature had been forged for the delivery of soil to rehabilitate farmland. The soil had never arrived, and about $4,000 was missing. The bureaucrat, a low-level field assistant who uses the single name Sreekanth, was suspected of stealing it. ‘I am a very rightful person,’ he declared. But the presiding official would have none of it. He ordered that the money be recovered and that Mr. Sreekanth be promptly disciplined. That simple verdict was part of a sweeping experiment in grass-roots democracy in rural India aimed at ensuring that the benefits of government programs for the poor actually go to the poor. It empowers villagers to act as watchdogs and to perform ‘social audits’ like the one that meted out quick justice to Mr. Sreekanth. Their success or failure could have broad implications for India’s quest to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty…”