Wednesday, 19 September 2012
14% De Facto
George Baker, a Newfoundland Liberal Senator, appeared on a Sunday night T.V. show. called West Block. How original!
It was set-up with a host, George and a foil in Professor Lee of Carleton University.
The two contrived to have a dispute about political matters.
It was too hurried. Too many issues. It was trite..
But one fact caught my attention.
George Baker said, the government should be embarrassed that 14% of the population is in jail.
Think about that.
I've been listening since for current percentage of unemployed. I heard numbers from NDP Leader of the opposition. But not percentage.
I know it's not 14%. I don't think it's that high in the States with a meltdown of the economy.
Yet, 14% incarcerated are not employed.They are not in the job market.
Should the factor not be added to percentages of unemployed ?
If unemployed are 8% and 14% are incarcerated, that would add up to 23% of employable people not contributing to the nation's economy.
Add numbers dependent on social assistance , could it be as high as or approaching 50%?
!4% of the population in jails are not supporting families..
But that's not the whole picture.
Custodial services cost more than a $100.000 per inmate, per year.
Last year, at the Canadian Federation of Municipalities,a workshop examined high costs for policing.
A panel member from Social Services in Waterloo told delegates, it is possible to predict students who will be in trouble with the law by Grade 5 .
Unable to master basic skills in reading and writing,by Grade 5, core resources are no longer available in the school system.
They are children at risk.
Think about that.
On the news recently, we learned teaching assistant jobs are earmarked for elimination to help reduce the deficit.
In the last election, the nation's Prime Minister committed to build more prisons.In select ridings no doubt.
Think about all of that.
14% unemployed would be a horrendous statistic.
14% dependant on social assistance would be equally dire.
But 14%, spending lives in jail cells are not even counted in the scheme of things.
Add it together and contemplate, how much of our economy is based on misery and failure?
Is it our largest industry?
What percentage of municipal budgets are spent on policing ?
What percentage of the provincial budget , on the court system?
What percentage of students leave the education system without the ability to read or write or consequently become employed?
What chance it might be exactly 14% ?
Are we our own best friends?
I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteThe unemployment number normally relates to those who are actively seeking employment.
Then there is a percentage of the population who used to work, who lost their jobs or quit, and are not actively seeking employment. This number is difficult to estimate but a figure must be added to those seeking work in order to provide a far more accurate statistic for a country's labour situation.
George Baker is an idiot if he said that 14% of the population is in jail. Canada's population is upwards of 33 million; 14% of that is 4,620,000. This is greater than the combined population of the three prairie provinces.
Possibly Mr. Baker should resign and go back to school. He could then teach courses on matters political to prison inmates so that when their sentences have been fully served they can enter politics, run for public office and become legitimate thieves, the way so many politicians seem to end up.
By the way, check out Maureen in today's NYT.
The unemployment calculation has been revised at least two times. The first revision was to exclude those that have stopped looking for work or whose unemployment insurance benefits had run out. The second revision was to exclude those that were "underemployed" (ie. 4 part time only).
ReplyDeleteThese people were included in the statistics back in the depression era. If you were to include them now, I think that you will find that the rate today is probably worse than in 1929.