Labour Markets, Social Institutions, and the Future of Canada's Children

The contributors to this book examine two broad themes related to the well-being of Canadian youth. First, they document the nature of the labour market facing young adults and how it has changed since the early 1970s. Second, the authors examine how families, communities, and the public sector influence some of the ways in which children become successful and self-reliant adults. The motivation for bringing these essays together has to do with the increasing importance of child well-being in public discourse and the development of public policy. The major message to emerge is that the future of Canada's children is both a good news, and a bad news story. Labour markets have changed dramatically, and on average it is now more difficult to obtain a strong foothold that will lead to increasing prosperity. Many young Canadians, however, are well prepared by their family and community backgrounds to deal with these new challenges, and as young parents are in a position to pass this heritage on to their children. However, this has not been the case for an increasingly larger minority, a group whose children in turn may face greater than average challenges in getting ahead in life. A companion volume published in February of 1998 by Statistics Canada called Government finances and generational equity examines the operation of government taxes and transfers from a generational perspective, focusing on the conduct of fiscal policy and the relative status of individuals in successive generations.