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November 13, 1996
The Progress of Canada's Children 1996
About this report
On November 13, 1996, the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is releasing the most comprehensive report to date
on the state of children and youth in Canada. Funded primarily by the Laidlaw Foundation's Children at Risk Programme, the
64-page report measures children's well-being according to the major factors affecting their lives -- their families, their economic
security, their physical safety, and their access to community resources such as health care and education. It also reviews how
children and youth in different age groups are faring by assessing their health status, social interactions, academic skills and labour
market status (for youth).
The report was inspired by the acclaimed UNICEF publication, The Progress of Nations, which measures children's well-being
in all parts of the world. Stephen Lewis, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, is the honorary director of the advisory board for
The Progress of Canada's Children and author of the introduction to the report.
Data sources for the report are many, but include primarily the following Statistics Canada surveys: the National Longitudinal
Survey of Children and Youth, the National Population Health Survey, the surveys of Consumer Finances, Household Facilities
and Equipment, Households and the Environment, Family Expenditures, and the International Adult Literacy Survey. A CCSD
project team led by Katherine Scott and David Ross gathered the statistics, ran cross-tabulations on the data and analyzed the
results to produce this report. Experts in child development from across the country advised the project team.
This report is the first in a series to be produced by the CCSD. The Progress of Canada's Children 1996 establishes baseline
information upon which the progress of children and youth will be measured in following years.
Some interesting findings:
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Young adults in Canada aged 20 to 24 are better educated than ever before, but they face almost twice the unemployment
rate of adults over age 25. And earnings for non-students in this age group dropped between 1984 and 1994 -- from
$15,500 to $12,900 for men and from $12,700 to $10,300 for women (calculated in 1994 dollars).
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Families are facing a cost crunch -- they are caught between spending an estimated $150,000 to raise a child to age 18, and
historic levels of household debt. At the same time, market incomes of low- and moderate-income families dropped
between 1984 and 1994, and average after-tax income for all families with children remained virtually stagnant (dropping
from $43,800 in 1984 to $43,700 in 1994).
Canadian children and youth are among the most highly educated in the world. But some worrisome signs exist. Funding
for kindergarten programs is being cut across Canada, reducing access to high-quality preschool programs. Post- secondary
tuition fees are rising. Half of post-secondary students require government loans to finance their education. Nearly one-fifth
of 24-year-olds have not completed high school, placing them at high risk of unemployment and poverty. -
Respiratory illnesses are increasing among children and youth. Some probable causes: Canada is one of the highest per
capita producers of air pollutants in the world. Further, nearly 40% of children under age six live in a home where one or
more persons smoke regularly.
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Overall, youth crime rates have dropped in the past three years, but violent youth crime rates doubled between 1986 and
1992. The data indicate links between youth crime and family dysfunction, anti-social behaviour and family poverty.
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Access to recreational and cultural activities is an important component of healthy child development, particularly for
children from poor and moderate-income families. Yet this access is declining as governments impose user fees or
eliminate services all together.
These are just a few of the many facts and trends reported in The Progress of Canada's Children 1996.
Why produce this report?
This report establishes -- for the first time in Canada -- a set of credible, reliable indicators that measure the well-being of our
children and youth. The 1996 report will provide a benchmark against which progress in future years can be measured. The
CCSD's goal is to establish social indicators of child and youth well-being that will be considered as seriously as the traditional
economic indicators -- gross domestic product, consumer price index, unemployment and interest rates -- when government and
business policies are set. While economic indicators measure the short-term health of our country, social indicators measure the
long-term prospects for prosperity by measuring the future health and capacity of our citizens.
About the Canadian Council on Social Development
The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is an independent, national, non-profit organization focusing on issues of
economic and social security. The Council's members number more than 700 organizations and individuals concer ned about social
policy issues. The CCSD's major activities include policy research and analysis, producing publications, and providing other
information services. The Council's work is supported by its quantitative research division -- the Centre for International Statistics.
Centre staff conduct research projects for a variety of clients, including government departments and non-government groups and
organizations.
The Progress of Canada's Children 1996 - Related Material
Canadian Council on Social Development,
309 Cooper Street, 5th Floor,
Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0G5
Tel: (613) 236-8977, Fax: (613) 236-2750, Web: www.ccsd.ca, Email: council@ccsd.ca
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