Women my age imitate our moms and work 50 hours on top “ A great new study released by GPI Atlantic found in the last 40 years, little has changed for women. Females still do about 65.5 per cent of domestic work. Working mothers put in four hours of unpaid work after they leave the job that pays. That means working mothers put in an average workday of more than 11 hours. No numbers on how long they get to sit between chores. Mothers are still the people in the family who get the groceries or line up in the school gym on parentteacher night. ”
November 6, 1998, The Daily News, Nova Scotia ~ Shaune MacKinlay
A closer look at work habits in Nova Scotia “ For women in Nova Scotia, the drudgery of 40 years ago could have been yesterday Women do almost the same amount of housework they did in 1961, even though far more have to squeeze it in after a full day on the job, says a new study ”
July 29, 1998, New Brunswick Telegraph Journal ~ Graeme Hamilton, Southam News
Research group pioneers new test to see how well the country is really doing “
And Statistics Canada hopes the Nova Scotia model will eventually be used across the country.
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"We always tend to think that when GDP rises, it's better for everybody," Hans Messinger, director of industry measures and analysis for Statistics Canada, said. "It's not necessarily better for everybody, and GDP gives no consideration of how well we can maintain that kind of development in the future. "
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Research group publishes pioneering study using new gauge “
A Nova Scotia research group has just published the results of a pioneering effort to provide a better gauge. By including such things as the value of unpaid work and the costs of crime and naturalresource depletion, the Genuine Progress Index delves beyond the GDP's calculation of goods and services exchanged in the marketplace. And Statistics Canada hopes the Nova Scotia model will eventually be used across the country.
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July 24, 1998, The Chronicle-Herald ~ Ralph Surette
“ A RECENT STUDY came up with some eyepopping figures: Nova Scotians contribute 134 million hours a year in volunteer and civic work in virtually every aspect of social life, which would be worth $2 billion if calculated at $13 an hour, the average rate paid health and social workers. ¶ Per person, it amounts to three hours and 23 minutes of volunteer work per adult per week, nearly an hour more than the Canadian average. If volunteerism died "our standard of living would decline dramatically" unless replaced at enormous cost, states the report by a nonprofit company called GPI Atlantic. ”
The issue: GPI an answer to GDP. “
THE GENUINE PROGRESS Index (GPI) has a quaint, 19th century ring to it. But it's actually an alternative to the notion of "progress" measured by economic growth, capital, technology, the exploitation of resources and similar material gains. The nonprofit group GPI Atlantic has released the first in a series of 20 studies aimed at defining a GPI for Nova Scotia, a pilot project which could become a model for the country.
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July 21, 1998, The Mail Star, Halifax ~ Michael Lightstone
Research project introduces genuine progress index “
Hans Messinger, an assistant director at Statistics Canada in Ottawa who's assisting Mr. Colman, says the GDP can increase while a society's quality of life declines.
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"The whole sustainable dimension is a very critical one," he says. "The GDP just tells you about the current time period how your economy is doing now, what you're producing now.
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"It doesn't really say how much you have to invest to ensure that you keep producing or expanding in the future."
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Mr. Messinger concedes the GPI is more of a subjective indicator but says it brings together economic, social and environmental elements to better measure progress.
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July 19,1998, Sunday Daily News, Halifax
Thumbs Up
“ Thumbs up to the GPI project, which offered up its first report last week. GPI is the Genulne Progress Index, a more comprehensive measure of social and economic health being offered as an alternative to indices such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Saint Mary's University is highly involved in this. Report No. 1 (of 20 in all) found Nova Scotians are tops at volunteering. ”
Nova Scotians lead the nation in helping others “ Nova Scotians volunteer far more than anyone else in Canada, a new economic survey has found. ¶ The survey found Bluenosers give an average of three hours, 23 minutes a week to voluntary work—the highest rate among the provinces and well above the national average of two hours, 40 minutes. ”
July 15, 1998, Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development and Tourism
Province Has Highest Rate of Volunteer Work in Canada “ The civic and voluntary work figures were released today in the first report of the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index (GPI), a new measure of sustainable development. The Nova Scotia project is one of the first fullscale applications of new accounting methods, and has been designated by Statistics Canada as a pilot for the rest of the country. ”
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