Recession hurt overall Canadian wellbeing, study finds




A report published Tuesday by the Canadian Index of Wellbeing says the recession hasn’t only hurt the economy — it’s also damaged our health, prompted us to spend less time and money on leisure and culture, and reduced our quality of life.

The index looks beyond economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) to show how Canadians are really doing. The latest report — the organization’s second — finds the recession caused a 24 per cent decline in Canadian wellbeing.

This number was determined by evaluating Canada’s performance on 64 indicators, divided into eight categories: the environment, leisure and culture, education, living standards, time use, healthy populations, democratic engagement and community vitality.

It’s a relatively new way of measuring progress and growth, with former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow leading the charge to persuade governments to consider wellbeing alongside other indicators.

Romanow, co-chair of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing’s advisory board, said the GDP alone doesn’t tell us how we’re doing as human beings.

“There’s a disconnect between what the GDP measures, which is the production of all goods and services, and how they are translated into the actual quality of life for people.”

According to the report, living standards, a measure of income inequality, have been rising since 1994, improving overall by 14.3 per cent between that year and 2010.

But between the first year of the recession, 2008, and 2010, the report says, living standards actually declined by 10.4 per cent, based on reduced levels of economic security, an increase in the number of people out of work for long periods, and a decrease in overall quality of employment.

The recession also reduced the amount of money households are spending on recreation and culture — down nearly 10 per cent between 2008 and 2010.

“This is especially troubling because Canadians have traditionally protected that part of their total household expenditures devoted to culture and recreation regardless of shifting economic times. It appears that, since the recession, Canadians are less able to do so,” the report says.

Its findings provide a “worrisome” picture of how Canada is really doing, Romanow said.

“My hope is that policy-makers at all levels … take account of what this report indicates and start to debate and tailor the appropriate community responses, in order to make sure that economic purposes are somehow related to improving the quality of life of Canadians.”

Romanow said Canadian Index of Wellbeing plans to step up its reportage to more often than once a year, to give Canadians an up-to-date idea of how the country is doing.

“I think (the reports are) getting to be more comprehensive, more in-depth, (and) hopefully over time will have more impact on our decision makers.”

Wellbeing since the recession (2008 to 2010)

Community vitality: Increased 2.2 per cent

Democratic engagement: Increased 0.6 per cent

Education: Increased 1.2 per cent

Environment: Decreased 0.8 per cent

Healthy populations: Decreased 0.2 per cent

Leisure and culture: Decreased 3 per cent

Living standards: Decreased 10.4 per cent

Time use: Increased 1.7 per cent




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