Chapter 3 Review Questions

Firstly, this does not mean that Canadians have, on average, grown poorer, but rather, that other countries have grown richer more quickly than Canada has. Canada was, for a long time, ranked second in the world for its PPP, but has been surpassed by several other countries more recently. Despite this, it also means that Canada remains a relatively wealthy country vis-à-vis other countries on the global scale, as it ranked #14 in the world in terms of its PPP.

Spence argues that globalization and outsourcing are to blame for loss of jobs in Western countries, while Lawrence and Katz claim that, alternatively, government policies and domestic factors are more to blame. Some other economists say that automation of jobs has led to less jobs available to the workforce. Answers will vary based on which explanation you think has the most merit. Support your answer with evidence from the textbook and your own knowledge of the subject.

The explanation that Brooks says is usually offered by Canadians is that the lower rate has been “bought” with lower wages and greater income inequality. Brooks himself has doubts about the lower wages argument.

The effects of globalization on the gap between rich and poor have been pervasive in Canada. The movement toward outsourcing has resulted in more highly-skilled jobs starting to leave the country in order to lessen labour costs. Countries such as India and China have not only taken advantage of lower wages but also of lower workers’ rights and standards.

The acronym ‘LICO’ stands for low-income cut-offs. It is also frequently referred to as the ‘poverty line.’ It is the threshold income deemed necessary for the basic necessities that one needs to live. Brooks explains that the LICO or poverty line came vary by family size, region, city versus rural, among other factors.

Socio-economic mobility is the ease of ability to move from one ‘rung’ to another on the socio-economic ‘ladder,’ fewer barriers to high-paying jobs, elite groups, etc. Where this ease is present is often referred to as an ‘open society,’ and where it is not is called a ‘closed society.’ Canada is often considered a relatively open society, surpassed in its socio-economic mobility by only a few Scandinavian countries.

It appears that gender, ethnicity, race, and family background continue to exert a significant downward pull on mobility. Of these, family background—i.e., the education, occupation and income of one’s parents—appears to be the most important.

It affects what sorts of inequalities are dealt with by governments and it influences the opportunities and resources available to different interests. For example, Canadian governments have long targeted more money at regional economic inequalities than have US governments because of the particular division of powers under the Canadian constitution and the relatively greater leverage of the provincial governments than the state governments. The Charter, too, has had a substantial impact on the prominence of equality rights issues, the strategies that groups use to achieve their goals, and the treatment of certain groups.

There are several reasons for the difficulty in collecting and interpreting statistics on violent crimes such as rape, violence, and assault including changes in reporting procedures, changes in law and public attitudes, the willingness of victims to come forward, variations in policing practices, the definition of offences, and the methodology behind the collection of crime statistics.

Just as the poverty line varies within Canada (dependent on location, demographics, and other factors), it also varies between countries. It varies most noticeably between more affluent and poorer places; Brooks lists Canada, Mexico, and Sudan as three countries where the term ‘poverty’ would likely hold very different meanings. What constitutes poverty in a place is greatly affected by that society’s material conditions.

The service sector has grown sizably from about 40% of the workforce in the mid-20^th century, to about 80% of jobs today. Conversely, industry has decreased, with a drop in the primary and secondary sectors. As a result, fears have emerged that the Canadian economy is deindustrializing, but Brooks points out that this is also happening in many other capitalist economies.

Answers will vary based on the products and services that are available to you. Examples may include the tech support phone call you placed being answered in India, or the Canadian clothing brand you like to wear manufacturing their products in Vietnam.

One of the claims in the chapter deems today’s young graduates to be ‘generation jobless,’ whereby there is massive unemployment amongst young people, many university and college graduates underemployed in low-paying jobs, and a generation financially worse off than their parents. Alternatively, commentators like Charbonneau say that despite difficulties entering the workforce, there is a changing landscape of employment with more shorter-term jobs where graduates will opportunities in the near future. Others have also suggested that millennials may, in the future, earn more than their parents. Answers will vary based on which claim you deem the most valid; support your response with evidence from the textbook and your own prior knowledge.

The provinces. While some funding comes from the federal government through transfer payments, each province is responsible for administering its own social assistance program, with its own rules for eligibility, categories, and benefit levels. Thus, programs can vary from province to province.

HALE stands for health-adjusted life expectancy, how many years a person can expect to live in good health. It is calculated by subtracting the average number of years of ill-health a person will experience (weighted for the severity of the health problems) from average life expectancy.

To answer this question, you can research certain socio-economic indicators for the Indigenous peoples in those countries to make an assessment of their socio-economic well-being. These indicators can include unemployment rates, average annual income, educational levels, poverty rates, infant mortality rates, life expectancy, number of persons living in one dwelling. You can then find out what policies are in place to address those issues, including employment and training policy, educational policy, housing policy, economic development policy, welfare policy, and health care policy. How you compare and contrast these case studies with Canada will vary based on the socio-economic indicators and government policies you choose to examine. For example, when comparing Canada with New Zealand, you would find that Indigenous peoples in Canada and Māori peoples in New Zealand both face disproportionately high rates of incarceration, homelessness, and reliance on social assistance programs. However, in New Zealand, Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) is recognized as an official language of the country – and there are several consequent social impacts of this – whereas Canada does not recognize any of its Indigenous languages as official languages. There are many further examples like these in these case studies.

You would have to begin by identifying the variables that indicate the existence of the income gap within Canada from an historical perspective. A second step may be to compare the results cross-contextually and then to identify best practices that could then be applied to the Canadian case in order to motivate positive change and minimize the effects of the income gap on Canadian citizens.

Answers will vary based on the socio-economic challenges that you identify. Some examples from the chapter include quality of life (QOL), socio-economic mobility, poverty, and life expectancy amongst others. You may choose to look at how these challenges can impact different Canadians based on where they live (rural vs. urban), their place of birth (or their parents’ place of birth), or whether they are Indigenous or non-indigenous.

Outsourcing is the movement of jobs to other countries. Over time, this has shifted from low-skilled jobs (ie. Footwear, textiles, etc.), to high-skilled and high-paid jobs including legal and financial services. This shift has had a number of impacts; you may choose to draw explanations from the textbook or from your own knowledge. For example, scholars like Spence say that outsourcing is responsible for a loss of jobs in Western countries, given that many outsourced jobs go to the developing world.

Brooks explains that a conscious middle class originated in Canada in the 1950s during the era of industrialization and greater affluence. You may choose to examine a number of different time periods explored in the chapter, including the steep drop in the number of Canadians identifying as middle class between 2002 and 2017, or the impacts on the middle class resulting from the global financial crisis. Demographics of the middle class can, and do, shift depending on province, place of birth, and other factors. Ensure you support your response with evidence from the textbook and/or your own prior knowledge.