Restructuring Pay Equity for A Restructured Work Force: Canadian Perspectives

The province of Ontario, Canada, has developed innovative pay and employment equity legislation. The legal challenges over the pay equity legislation have established some important precedents, especially in the area of gender bias and job evaluation schemes. The Employment Equity legislation established important new principles but was repealed only a year after it was passed by a new Conservative government. The government and economic restructuring, however, are rapidly altering both the legislation and the context in which it operates. This paper considers not only the impact of such legislation in the long and short run, but also the possibilities for future legislative intervention in the new political and economic climate. One of the authors has been centrally involved in developing the legislation, in mapping alternatives and in bringing legal challenges under the legislation. The other author has been researching and writing about women’s work for more than twenty years and has served as an expert witness in numerous cases related to the issues of concern here.     

Comparing the effectiveness of individual and group therapy for students with symptoms of anxiety and depression: A randomized pilot study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of individual versus group therapy for anxiety and depression among university students. Participants: Forty-one university students experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depression participated during one of three academic semesters from 2015 to 2016. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to either 6-weeks of individual or group therapy and completed outcome measures at pre-and-post-treatment. Results: Significant reductions in both depression and anxiety scores were found across time, with no significant difference between group and individual therapy outcomes. Exploratory analysis of attitudes toward therapy found that while individual therapy was rated more favorably than group therapy overall, attitudes toward therapy became more favorable from pre to post-treatment for all participants. An interaction showed differences in attitudes toward individual and group therapy according to participants’ randomly assigned treatment. Conclusions: These findings support the increased usage of group therapy within university counseling centers, with implications for stepped care discussed.     

For love and money: Navigating values at the antiques roadshow event

Antiques Roadshow Events are held in historic locations across the United Kingdom. On site, experts evaluate objects brought in by attendees, who are often cast as passive recipients, while edited highlights make up the long-running BBC TV program. Through Collaborative Event Ethnography at one Roadshow Event we show how object stories are navigated through “value talk” between attendees and experts in front of live audiences. Value is not a measurement but a dimension of the thing and its context. Stories and money are both integral in understanding worth, and final valuations are only partially shaped by given expertise.     

Topic selection for the Australian census of population and housing

"We describe how topics were selected for the Australian Census of Population and Housing. Australia has adopted an open assessment of topics submitted by users and the general public and then performed field tests of difficult or sensitive questions. For the 1986 Census, special attention was given to the development of a census question on ethnic origin."     

We are Poor but So Many: the Story of Self-Employed Women in India

When Ela Bhatt, author of this book and founder of the Self-EmployedWomen's Association (SEWA), expressed doubts about the feasibilityof a bank for poor women workers, her colleague, a used garmentdealer, responded ‘we may be poor, but we are so many’.Three years, and many struggles later, they had establisheda profitable bank serving over 11,000 customers with savingsand loans, and governed by representatives of its member-customers.This book tells the story of the development of a union of womenworkers in the ‘informal sector’ in India. It detailsthe almost paralyzing structural challenges, the determinationand solidarity of the women, their impressive achievements andtheir disappointments. It offers an example of how participatorycommunity development efforts, with the right supports,     

The development of some characteristics for equitable national retirement income systems

The objective of this paper is to establish and apply a set of characteristics or benchmarks for a nation's total retirement income system to be considered equitable. It must be stressed that the suggested characteristics do not, by themselves, design a national retirement income system. Indeed, it is recognized that the political, historical, economic and cultural context of each country will always influence such designs. However, this paper will demonstrate that different designs of national retirement income systems are not equally effective when subjected to these equity criteria. Hence, in putting forward these characteristics, the aim is to develop clear distinctions between equitable and inequitable national retirement income systems.     

The Contribution of Voluntary Organizations to the Care of Children with Life-limiting Incurable Disorders and their Families

A national postal survey of voluntay organizations providing for children with life-limiting incurable disorders (n = 147) is described. The majority of organizations originated from the motivation of parents or care workers in response to deficiencies in service provision from other agencies. A wide variety of services were available from the organizations with over half providing an information service, emotional support and counselling, patient and family support and a telephone helpline. The provision of some services, for example respite care, was, hoverer, associated with the size of annual budgets. Publicity, referral and funding arrangements are also discussed. The role of voluntary organizations as partners in care with statutory agencies is discussed in the light of instability of funding arrangements and the use of health and social work staff as the main source of information about voluntary services to parents. Areas of further research in this field are suggested.