Canadians' sense of well-being? Depends on who you ask
A couple of week ago, we talked about the Misery Index, a measure of how Americans feel about their bleak economic prospects.
Now, however, Canadians have their own index and it's much broader than the U.S. version -- but not really any less gloomy.
The measure is based on 64 indicators from eight separate areas: living standards, community vitality, democratic engagement, education, healthy populations, environment, time use, leisure and culture.
Overall, the index suggests the quality of life in Canada has actually decreased since 1994, the starting point for the new measure which is based out of the University of Waterloo.
Of course, the index's breadth means it actually lags a bit and really doesn't capture the full impact of the 2008 recession and the subsequent uneven recovery.
Echoing today's Occupy Wall Street protesters, the report also suggests the top 20 per cent of Canadians enjoyed rising incomes and wealth during the boom years, leaving the bottom 20 per cent even further behind.
Part of the reason is that housing prices have increased so much, beyond what rising incomes can cover.
On the plus side though, crime rates are dropping, high-school graduation rates are increasing and life expectancy is climbing.
While the protest movement's end game may be unclear, that sense of disparity does reinforce the group's key point: economic growth doesn't necessarily translate into a corresponding improvement in overall quality of life.
When you look at the numbers, do they reflect your reality? Have you seen your quality of life slide over the past several years? Or are you one of the lucky/hardworking ones?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Chris | Oct 21, 2021 7:33:50 PM
Remember when TV was free!
how about now 600 a year for basic cable, 600 a year for internet
Sewer, wate,r gas, electricity, now it costs far more and uses far more of a persons disposable income just for basic requirements these days and considerably more in comparison than it did in my parents generation.( and yes being informed through the media is now essential)
It all boils down to corperate greed, unrealistic salaries and pensions for the elite.
Corperations dont give a sht about anyone but their selves and their stockholders ..hense the reason for the continued increase of our daily living expenses and the uprisings we see right now accross this country and world
Posted by: RUNADIAN | Oct 21, 2021 7:34:54 PM
I agree with Old rocker. Universities etc will gladly take your money and pump out new classes of graduates who have no hope of getting a job. In my field this has beeen the case for 10 years. We have students every year, and every year I want to tell them to go do something else. if I did, they would never let me talk to students again. Of my graduating class, only about 20% of us are still in our field, and we were the lucky class. the last class that had a chance. And, no, those not in the field are using what they learned somewhere else. The place I work at finds being an "educational" work site very prestigious, so they happily help the post secondary instiitutes churn out the educated jobless. The students are not being told the truth, which is they will never work more than a maternity leave coverage immediately upon graduating. After that, well hopefully the student loans arent too high. My field is flooded with people with science degrees who had go back to school because a science degree is not good for much. Ieven have 7 years post secondary. Thankfully I at least got some personal satisifaction out of it all.
Posted by: RUNADIAN | Oct 21, 2021 7:38:29 PM
oh mia. another way to put the house dillema apple is by years of salary. Same with the other stuff. It has all gone up in relartion to typical income. A house used to be 2 years averag salary, now it is 10. As for me being greedy and having all this stuff people claim we have, well the jeans I am wearing are over 15 years old, I wear 4 year old running shoes, and I dont even have a cell phone, and I certainly could afford new jeans and a phone. I just dont want either. I travel instead, and love every minute of it.
Posted by: RUNADIAN | Oct 21, 2021 7:42:03 PM
carl, you hit it on the head in so many ways. Hang on, though, because it aint stoppiing any time soon.
Posted by: RUNADIAN | Oct 21, 2021 8:26:51 PM
Where I live, the average canadian two income household can not afford, nor would they be given a mortgage for, the average priced home. Every index of standard of living I have come across (ok, only 3 and the media could be biased) has agreed with the loss of standard of living. In high school I was told that capitalism requires a large number of people with a good amount of disposable income to maintain itself. A few years back a statistic was released that 40% of the value of consumer goods in the United States are now labelled as high-end products for the wealthy. I guess capitalism wont need that mass with disposable income much longer. My standard of living has improved greatly since the 90s, but that doesnt change roughly 20 years of slowly evolving disturbing trends. Kadin, and others, I agree with ditching the marterialistic attitude our society has, but you must be aware and alert. We exist in a social construct and as members of that system it is our responsibility to pay attention and act if we must when we feel that the system has become immoral or corrupt. To do otherwise is irresponsible and unworthy of those who have died to defend the ideals by which we live, and the lands upon which we live them. I do not agree that in a society that prizes competition (ie capitalism) we are told that the leaders (ie, super wealthy/ large corporations, big banks, and my neighbours dog.)) are too important to fail. That makes the whole sytem a lie, regardless of how comfortable technology has made us, or how content we are with our own lives. And yes i am too am glad to live in a country like Canada, because the very "corporate" (for lack of a better word)/government greed and corruption we are talking abour now, has done more damage around the world than we will ever know.
Posted by: Raven | Oct 21, 2021 8:53:31 PM
'Once the last tree is cut and river poisoned you will then learn you cannot eat money'
~ Native proverb
'Why can't we just get back to the basics of life?'
~Waylon Jennings
BTW~
Comments are more effective when concise.
Posted by: Robot Man | Oct 21, 2021 10:11:13 PM
Like the Comment Raven .............the politicians simply do not understand the basics of life, that is why they have a hefty pension to be beyond it.
Posted by: Hal | Oct 21, 2021 10:22:39 PM
I remember the last liberal government that was doing such a good job with the country's economy and it's paying down the country's dept along with all the income tax cut's. Wish it was just a bad dream but no. Why did the N.D.P. support the Harper republican/ conservative party back in 2006 ? The support that brought P. Martins liberal minority down. Now what we get I personally blame on the N.D.P. Harper is dragging us into a period of regressive policies that will take us years to get back from. Harper will use the good condition left by the liberal gov. before to take credit for the good times yet to come. Although P.Martin was set to pay off our country's dept first. With no dept, taxes would continue to fall As well be in a better position to pay for our social and pension plans. Not with Harper though. He screwed things up right away. Leave the gst where it was and continue to lower taxes like the Liberals were doing. What was the N.D.P. thinking, supporting Harper. So disappointed with the N.D.P.
Posted by: Andy Sibbald | Oct 21, 2021 11:10:43 PM
Why are we loading up ships of raw logs in BC for China and at the same time telling our mills and manufacturers that there is not enough wood available. Exporting good jobs makes no sense but our governent caves on issues like this-who is benefiting becuse it is not your worker in the BC forest industry? Does Free Trade mean getting fleeced and exporting jobs so that what we will be left with in the end are low paying jobs with no security and no future. Kids can't even get a full-time job flipping burgers and now have two or three. No wonder people are upset about corporate greed!
Canadians' sense of well-being
Posted by: Lisa | Oct 22, 2021 2:35:09 PM
I find I am on both sides of this discussion, my personal quality of life is just fine, and I do attribute that to a good education (which I paid for!) and hard work. That said I also see how the overall quality of living has slid, things are much more expensive adjusted for income than they were, and most household are dependant on two parents working. I truly think this is the biggest change, one income used to support a household, now it takes two.... I think the scariest thing is trying to sort out what the future will look like for my kids...
Posted by: Heather C. | Oct 24, 2021 12:59:11 PM
Mark R:
the only solution to our overpopulation is the one child policy. at least China got it right in knowing that earth can only hold a certain amount of damn people.
Posted by: Heather C. | Oct 24, 2021 1:06:36 PM
RUNADIAN:
YES! put an end to useless, social- life robbing texting cellphones and replace them with basic ones! also bring back the spirit of love for things like Christmas and Halloween, and most importantly, bring back the love for our family/friends.
the only things needed in life are the neccesary ones.
Posted by: John | Oct 26, 2021 9:55:02 PM
My life, and my family's, continues to improve year after year. We do not consider ourselves lucky be any means, just hard working and smart about our spending versus saving. We have made many sacrifices over the years to ensure financial independence, while others we know have squandered their incomes to live it up, only to find themselves in deep financial problems now. Sorry, but you you made your beds, you sleep in them. No pity from me. No one will bail you out.