- UNICEF report: Canada ranks 17th of 29 for well-being of children, By Laurie Monsebraaten, April 10, 2013, Toronto Star: “If you think Canada is one of the best places to raise a child, think again. The latest report on the well-being of children in rich countries ranks Canada 17th out of 29, a score that hasn’t budged in almost a decade, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The country scored ‘below average’ grades for child poverty and obesity and children’s life satisfaction, says the report to be released Wednesday. The Netherlands ranked first overall, followed by Norway and Iceland. Romania was last…”
- British children facing bleaker future than rest of Europe, warns Unicef, By Josie Ensor, April 10, 2013, The Telegraph: “A report by the UN children’s fund has found that they are worse off overall than in many other industrialised countries, including less wealthy nations such as Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The charity ranked the UK 16th out of 29 developed countries — three places higher than in its last report in 2007. While its overall rating for ‘child well-being’ has gone up, Britain now has the lowest number of young people in further education and one of the highest numbers of under-age drinkers and teenage pregnancies…”
Tag: Canada
Social Impact Bonds – Canada
- Feds introduce controversial ‘social impact bonds’ to fund social services, By Les Whittington, November 8, 2012, Toronto Star: “The federal government is introducing a controversial new approach to funding social services called ‘social impact bonds’ that can turn a profit for private investors. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, who have often been accused of short-changing social programs, view the bonds as a valuable source of fresh funding for Canadian communities…”
- Ottawa looks to private sector to help fund social programs, By Heather Scoffield, Winnipeg Free Press: “The federal government wants to tap into a ‘gold mine’ of private-sector funding to finance its social programs — a new approach the New Democrats are dismissing as little more than budget cuts in disguise. Human Resources Minister Diane Finley launched a ‘call for concepts’ on Thursday, asking businesses, not-for-profits and the volunteer sector to come up with fundamentally new ideas for jointly financing improvements in the lives of the needy. The launch is a tentative step into the realm of social financing — an approach that is being tested in the United Kingdom and the United States. It invites private-sector investors to provide up-front money and then collect a return on projects government traditionally pays for, such as homelessness or hunger…”
Youth Underemployment – Canada
The real youth jobs crisis: underemployment, By Tavia Grant, October 30, 2012, Globe and Mail: “Youth joblessness tends to garner all the headlines, but the more troubling trend may be the more hidden one: underemployment. A paper to be released Tuesday is urging more examination of the extent of youth underemployment in Canada and more research into the causes that are driving it. ‘Contrary to the highly visible issue of youth unemployment, underemployment is seldom spoken of,’ says a 61-page paper by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, which periodically publishes research on various aspects of the Canadian economy…”