Archive for the ‘Social Security Debates’ Category
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Millions of Canadians risk losing ‘retirement of their dreams,’ study warns
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015
The deputy chief economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is making an impassioned plea to reform the country’s retirement system as quickly as possible… Canadians simply aren’t saving enough. So “we have to be more creative” to encourage savings, whether via CPP, RRSPs or other ways. “Without getting into the politics of it, it is important to remember why a change to the system is essential,”
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, standard of living, youth
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The Power of Hope Is Real
Sunday, May 31st, 2015
Whether in America or India, families that are stressed and impoverished — trapped in cycles of poverty — can feel a hopelessness that becomes self-fulfilling. Give people reason to hope that they can achieve a better life, and that, too, can be self-fulfilling… People trapped in a cycle of destitution often don’t realize their lives can be changed for the better through their own activities. Once they understand that, it’s like a light gets turned on.”
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, mental Health, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Why CPP has become an election issue
Friday, May 29th, 2015
According to a Nanos poll for The Globe and Mail, expansion of CPP benefits was the most popular of four policy initiatives posed… Low-earning workers are covered adequately by other public pension programs, and wealthy individuals can manage for themselves. Thus, retirement income security is the ultimate “middle-class” policy issue – something that no political party can afford to ignore in a competitive electoral setting.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, pensions, standard of living
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Whether voluntary or mandatory, there is no need to expand the CPP
Thursday, May 28th, 2015
… so far as we are talking about assuring that those of modest means save enough to replace their incomes in retirement — on the parallel theory that we would not leave them to live in near poverty if they did not — well, that’s covered by the existing CPP… virtually everyone — in excess of 95 per cent — among the bottom two fifths on the income scale is currently saving at a sufficient level to replace at least 50 per cent of their income in retirement, the recommended minimum.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, pensions, standard of living
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Guaranteed income film will study 1 P.E.I. family
Wednesday, May 20th, 2015
In an experiment on guaranteed income, documentary filmmakers will top up the wages of a P.E.I. family living below the poverty line to examine what impact it has on quality of life… [with] plans to select a family each from Manitoba, Ontario and Nunavut… to start a dialogue about a basic income guarantee — the idea that everyone should have enough money to meet their basic needs and live with dignity.
Tags: featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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We allow poverty to exist
Friday, May 15th, 2015
One measure of poverty places five per cent of Canadians in its grasp. But this five per cent accounts for 50 per cent of health care costs. What does this tell us about who we are? Poverty is a social construct. It is the result of public policy. Yet, this policy can only exist because Canadians of all stripes allow it to exist… Yet, it is insane. We keep five per cent of our population in poverty and then pay an enormous price for our failure of compassion.
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Modest help for the poor in Ontario’s budget
Monday, April 27th, 2015
… 40 per cent of welfare recipients with partners or children will lose ground to inflation… The budget contained no assistance for municipalities struggling to meet the burgeoning demand for affordable housing. Nor did it provide funds to fix the deteriorating social housing it downloaded onto cities a decade ago… nothing to low-income parents who need subsidized child-care. This excludes single mothers from the workforce until their children start school.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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New safety nets needed for era of chronic inequality
Wednesday, April 15th, 2015
… The welfare state is a vestige of a bygone era. It traps people who want to lift themselves out of poverty. Tinkering won’t fix it. What is needed is a wholesale re-thinking of social policy… three social scientists drafted their blueprints for an ideal world, neglecting the four-year lifespan of governments, the weak job market, the unwillingness of politicians to embark on high-risk schemes with a distant payback, and the circumstances of people who can’t make ends meet.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Canada’s social programs will suffer under balanced budget law
Sunday, April 12th, 2015
… policy design appears to have been based on an assumption that reducing the federal deficit and implementing social policy that improves Canadians’ well-being are mutually exclusive goals… income splitting… will benefit wealthy people while the majority of Canadians will be affected by the cuts to social programs or increased taxes needed to offset the projected billions in lost federal and provincial revenue in the coming years
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
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CWP’s Spring 2015 Economic and Social Rights Course
Wednesday, April 1st, 2015
… international human rights law, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which lay the foundation for human rights laws around the world… Although these rights cannot be enforced directly by courts in Canada, the federal and provincial governments have a responsibility to make sure these rights are protected. But, what do economic and social rights have to do with Canadians?
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
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