Economic and Social Reports, January 2023

Released: 2023-01-25

The January 2023 issue of Economic and Social Reports, which contains three articles, is now available.

New information on different types of child maltreatment

About 6 in 10 (59.7%) individuals living in Canada reported experiencing some type of child maltreatment before they were 15 years old. Studies have shown that child maltreatment is associated with poorer health and socioeconomic outcomes later in life. In Canada, national-level estimates have mainly focused on physical types of child maltreatment (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse). The study "What do we know about physical and non-physical childhood maltreatment in Canada?" provides new information about different types of child maltreatment, including non-physical (e.g., emotional abuse, exposure to intimate partner violence, physical neglect).

Nearly one-third (32.3%) of individuals reported experiencing only non-physical child maltreatment, followed by over 2 in 10 (23.3%) who reported experiencing both non-physical and physical child maltreatment. Experiencing only physical maltreatment was the least prevalent type of child maltreatment reported (4.1%).

These results show that the measurement of non-physical types of maltreatment is important for a better understanding of child maltreatment in Canada. In addition, reports of different types of child maltreatment varied by sociodemographic characteristics, such as sex at birth and age group. For example, females (34.7%) were more likely than males (29.9%) to report experiencing only non-physical maltreatment as children. Findings from this study indicate that some groups may be at greater risk than others of experiencing certain types of child maltreatment.

Official language proficiency and immigrant labour market outcomes

Studies have demonstrated that higher proficiency in the destination-country language improves immigrant labour market outcomes. However, previous studies have mainly drawn on subjective measures of language proficiency. The study "Official language proficiency and immigrant labour market outcomes: Evidence from test-based multidimensional measures of language skills" examines the effects of test-based measures of official language proficiency in four dimensions—listening, speaking, reading and writing—on employment and earnings of economic principal applicants.

While the analysis showed little effect on economic immigrants' employment outcomes, the effects on earnings were much stronger for each of the four dimensions of test-based language measures than those of the self-reported measure, indicating that using the latter can considerably underestimate the effect of language skills on earnings. Earnings differentials across test-based proficiency levels in all four dimensions were considerable. For example, when only the reading skill was examined along with all control variables, immigrants with level 7 skills (intermediate language ability: adequate) earned about 25% less than those with skills of level 10 or above (advanced language ability: above initial). In comparison, the corresponding earnings differences for listening, speaking and writing were 18%, 19% and 22%, respectively. These results would inform the selection of economic immigrants and integration programs.

How survey questions and methods affect life satisfaction responses on Canadian social surveys

How survey respondents answer subjective questions, such as how they rate their satisfaction with life as a whole, may be influenced by features of the survey itself. Survey framing effects occur when respondents' answers are influenced by the theme or content of the survey, while a mode effect is when respondents' answers are influenced by the method used to collect survey data (e.g., with an interviewer, through an online collection portal, etc.). In the article "Survey framing and mode effects in life satisfaction responses on Canadian social surveys," the impacts of these effects on life satisfaction responses are estimated across three Statistics Canada survey series: the General Social Survey, the Canadian Community Health Survey, and the Canadian Social Survey.

Products

The January 2023 issue of Economic and Social Reports, Vol. 3, no. 1 (Catalogue number36280001) is now available. This issue contains the articles "What do we know about physical and non-physical childhood maltreatment in Canada?," "Official language proficiency and immigrant labour market outcomes: Evidence from test-based multidimensional measures of language skills," and "Survey framing and mode effects in life satisfaction responses on Canadian social surveys."

Contact information

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