Listen to CPI Researcher Dr. Nketti Johnston-Taylor’s address to the City of Calgary’s public inquiry on systemic racism. There is an important connection, she argues, between poverty and involvement with the legal system that is grounded in systemic racism. Listen to her presentation here.
Poverty and Systemic Racism
On July 8, CPI Senior Researcher Dr. Rita Yembilah presented at The City of Calgary’s public inquiry on systemic racism. Racism, she argued, is a form of structural violence and a key underlying factor in poverty. Watch her presentation here.
Just Released - The Employment Impact of Covid-19 on Calgary Neighbourhoods: A Preliminary Assessment
This brief estimates the employment impact of the lockdown on neighbourhoods and urban zones in Calgary. The estimates in this report indicate that the employment impact of Covid-19 is not evenly distributed across Calgary. Neighbourhoods hardest hit tend to be lower income suburban neighbourhoods with larger immigrant and visible minority populations.
An Assessment of the Employment Impacts of Covid-19 on Canada's Equity Seeking Workforce
This new report provides a national and provincial overview of the estimated impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable workers and those from equity-seeking communities. Across Canada, low-income, visible minority and recent immigrant workers have experienced the most significant employment impacts.
Exacerbating Canadians' Financial Stress: How Covid19 has Affected Inflation Measurement
The method Statistics Canada uses to calculate the Consumer Price Index doesn’t work well when there are big changes in consumer spending patterns, which is exactly what is happening due to COVID-19. In this guest blog, Arthur Berger discusses how current inflation calculations are misleading and work against the financial security of low and middle income Canadians. People in low income, such as seniors who depend on OAS and single parents who rely on child support payments or government social programs, will not receive the increase in income they need to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Taxpayers will also be adversely affected, as income tax brackets will move in the wrong direction. This will put more income into higher tax brackets even for people whose income did not increase. Read More ….
Arthur Berger retired in 2019 after 8 years as the head of data and statistics at the Bank of Canada. Prior to that, Arthur worked at Statistics Canada for 24 years.
2020: The Year We Couldn't Breathe
Reflections on racism, poverty, power and the pandemic by CPI Director, Derek Cook.
More …
JUST RELEASED - Covid-19: A Tipping Point for Gender Equality
COVID-19: A Tipping Point for Gender Equality. Analysis of the gender impact of the pandemic and recommendations for recovery. Report prepared for the Canadian Poverty Institute by Charla Vall.
An Assessment of the Employment Impact of Covid19 on Calgary’s Vulnerable Workforce
This research brief discusses the employment and financial security impacts of the economic shutdown on Calgary’s vulnerable workforce.
Highlights:
Women and youth were the hardest hit by the contraction in the economy. Female employment fell by 3.4% in March, a loss of 13,500 jobs. Youth employment fell by 10.7%, a loss of 8,100 jobs resulting in a 50% increase in the number of unemployed youth.
Industries and occupations hardest hit by the economic contraction were those in which low-waged and vulnerable workers were predominantly employed, namely the Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food Services industries, and Sales and Service occupations.
Based on the industry and occupational profile of Calgary’s vulnerable workforce, significant job losses are expected among low-income workers, visible minority workers, persons living alone, and recent immigrants.
Many households lack significant financial reserves which may result in greatly increased challenges meeting their basic needs if employment ends as well as long-term indebtedness and possible insolvency. Additionally, financial stress and lost income and employment can compromise mental and physical health.
Read the Full Brief.
This brief has been prepared as part of the Canadian Poverty Institute’s Post-Covid Recovery Project.
Decent Work and the New Economy Post-Recovery
The Canadian Poverty Institute leads a Collective Impact Initiative, the New Economy Roundtable. Join CPI Director Derek Cook and Roundtable member Kate Siklosi of the Ian Martin Group (a B Corp), in this podcast where they discuss their focus on increasing the number of people in "decent work" in Ontario, and how this focus is even more important coming through the COVID crisis into both economic and social recovery.
A Post-Covid Canada: Bouncing Back or Bouncing Forward?
If you gaze across our shuttered cities right now at the beginning of April, you may see all around you the budding of spring. Although the human world might have mostly come to a shuddering stop, birds still return from their migrations, branches still thicken as leaves prepare to burst and bulbs still wait in the ground to rise up. And so we are reminded that, difficult though it may be to imagine, this too shall pass. Yet, while we may be reasonably certain of what each recurring season will look like, we have only a murky glimpse of what our human world will resemble once this has all passed. What we are coming to appreciate is that it will be remarkably different than the one we inhabited before COVID19 gripped us in a death choke mere weeks ago. In this article, CPI Director Derek Cook reflects on the vulnerabilities that left us exposed to this pandemic and what opportunities may lie ahead for a post-Covid Canada.