In response to the exchange between Tom, Doug and Max, there
is recent evidence from Canada that they are both right.
Yesterday the Canadian Council on Welfare issued its
report on child poverty in Canada in which my home province,
Manitoba, was third on the list after New Brunswick and
Newfoundland. It is interesting that in both Manitoba and
New Brunswick the governments have adopted low wage policies
to entice in low wage employers (e.g. telemarketers). The
rise in child poverty has come *as a result of falling
unemployment* as a consequence of the growing proportion
of low-wage jobs, even where both parents are employed.
Manitoba, for instance, has had the highest percentage
drop in unemployment -- and one of the highest increases
in child poverty.
The welfare council is calling for a rise in the
minimum wage and in the social welfare system --
exactly the opposite of what is being advocated by
the neoclassicals and business and the Conservative
gov't.
Paul Phillips,
Economics,
University of
Manitoba
