Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
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‘Unretirement’: Why many Americans try retirement and then change their minds
A 2010 analysis… found that more than a quarter of retirees later resumed working… in 2017… almost 40 per cent of workers over 65 had previously, at some point, retired… the Bureau of Labor Statistics supports that observation. It reported that the proportion of Americans over age 65 who were employed, full-time or part time, had climbed steadily from 12.8 per cent in 2000 to 18.8 per cent in 2016. More than half were working full time.
Tags: economy, participation, pensions
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Later Retirement versus Higher Immigration as Remedies for an Aging Population
Increasing the age at which Canadians typically cease work and access benefits such as pensions is a far more practical and powerful tool to mitigate the economic and fiscal stresses of aging… Safeguarding our living standards and public programs against the stresses of aging requires other tools – in particular, rewards for people who stay economically active into their 60s and beyond. If we foster longer working life and address other challenges facing our pensions and healthcare, we will handle demographic change much better
Tags: economy, featured, immigration, pensions, standard of living
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Highlights of the Ontario budget
– $822 million extra to hospitals, funding more cardiac and cancer surgeries, chemotherapy, MRIs and other services; – $575 million to make drugs completely free for seniors; – $800 million over two years for drug and dental coverage for people without insurance (up to $400 for singles, $600 for couples, $50 for each child); – $2.1 billion over four years for mental health care; – $2.2 billion over three years, providing some parents free child care; – $1 billion over three years for a seniors home-care benefit of $750 a year…
Tags: budget, child care, economy, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Ontario’s debt has exploded. Is the province in trouble?
Today, Ontario has an operating surplus that amounts to 4.2 per cent of its adjusted operating revenues – or in plain language, it’s running a surplus before accounting for interest expenses on the debt… Growth gives a big boost to government revenues and also helps temper the climb in its debt-to-GDP ratio. But with interest rates starting to rise, the fear now is that Ontario’s interest expense will jump. (Interest currently consumes about 8 per cent of provincial government revenues.)
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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Immigration alone can’t keep Canada young
If longer work life and other responses to aging makes us more prosperous, however, we will more easily attract immigrants and retain workers who can contribute to our prosperity – a virtuous circle.
Higher immigration may be good for many reasons, but it cannot keep Canada young. Other policies to ease the demographic transition, notably encouraging people to work longer, hold out at least as much promise for boosting living standards.
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, participation, standard of living
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Higher Immigration Cannot Keep Canada Young
… no increase within the realm of practicality can prevent population aging. Other policies to ease the demographic transition, notably encouraging people to work longer, are at least as powerful – and, further, would complement changes to immigration policy by improving Canada’s attractiveness to people willing and able to contribute to the Canadian economy.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living
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New law to make employers accountable for temp worker injuries
Employers who use temporary employment agencies will no longer be able to evade liability for workplace accidents… as new legislation promises to hold them responsible when temps are injured or killed on the job… they would remove existing incentives for employers to shift risky work onto temp agency workers who often receive little training or protection… The ministry is also undertaking an in-depth investigation into the temp agency sector with results expected to be available in the spring.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Hydro One privatization is the reason voters distrust Kathleen Wynne
The sell-off of public goods is the quintessence of neoliberalism… Ontario Hydro was a public undertaking funded by the public that returned benefits to all. You can’t sell it, you can only swipe it and hand it over, as Wynne did. The buyers won’t do anything to improve it; they’ll just squeeze it to extract profits. Classical economists of the 1700s and 1800s would’ve called them rentseekers — the ugliest players in capitalism.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization
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Ontario to introduce ‘pay transparency’ legislation
If passed, the “pay transparency” bill would require all publicly advertised job postings to include a salary rate or range, bar employers from asking about past compensation and prohibit reprisal against employees who do discuss or disclose compensation. It would also create a framework that would require large employers to track and report compensation gaps based on gender and other diversity characteristics, and disclose the information to the province.
Tags: economy, featured, rights, standard of living, women
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A new era for the workplace – shorter work weeks – is starting now
Ironically, the fact that technology has made work 24/7 for many may make the case for shorter official weeks even stronger. That the wall between world and leisure is effectively blurred means that official number of hours actually worked, particularly by white-collar employees, has little to do with the number of hours that they are at work. Granting shorter workweeks may not cost employers as much as it might seem…
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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