Article Critical Analysis
Article Critical Analysis
Article Title:
Nicole Fortin, David A. Green, Thomas Lemieux, Kevin Milligan and W. Craig Riddell
Article Citation:
Fortin, N., Green, D.A., Lemieux, T., Milligan, K., & Riddell, W.C. (2012, June). Canadian Inequality: Recent Developments and Policy Options. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, 38 (2), 121-145.
Abstract
The article which is the subject of this review seeks to examine the income inequality trends in Canada and the factors responsible for this development including what can be done about it. Its main finding is that there are still huge income disparities between the educated rich Canadians and those in the low income bracket. However, the wage difference between genders is not that big due to increased involvement of the female gender in education and labor issues.
Introduction
The purpose of the article is to document the patterns of income inequality in Canada, the causes of this new development and the role that gender wage differences play in earning inequality changes over time. Moreover, the paper seeks to lay down or suggest the policy options that could help reduce or slow down the escalating trends of income inequalities in Canada. The writers’ aim is to outline how Canada can respond to the growing income inequality that has remained unexplored for some time. Though not explicitly stated or brought out, the article’s research question seems to be what the basic facts and statistical data on income in equality in Canada are. This research question is important in that it has enabled the researchers or writers to assess and argue from a factual or evidential basis regarding the dynamics, scope, causes and impacts of income inequality in Canada. The authors have effectively answered the research problem by laying down what they call “the broad stakes” (p, 122). The thesis of this review is that Fortin et al.’s (2012) article seeks to come up with findings that will help guide or inform policy developments and changes for redressing income inequality in Canada.
Analysis
In this study, the authors have made use of the Gini Coefficient as a method of measuring income an inequality and at the same time making comparison with similar study findings from other countries like the US. The ‘participants’ in the study include economic family units and individual Canadians at different economic income levels. The study distinguished and measured pre-tax or market transfer income and post-tax or disposable income of the ‘participants’ as a means for obtaining the disparities in income distribution that exist among Canadians. This takes into consideration factors such as recession during which there is a sharp increase in income inequality since the low –income earners are affected the most (p. 123). It also makes use of cross-sectional data to measure the income inequality in the study that was conducted in Canada among Canadian families, males and females.
The results of the study are that there is a glaring income inequalities among Canadians that operates in a top-down fashion whereby the top income earners of the Canadian population are mainly few educated and rich individuals and are not equally distributed in the various sectors of the Canadian economy. Equally, the low income earners are mainly jobless people or those with unstable and low-wage jobs. The study also found out that the main factors that drive income inequality in Canada are technological changes that results in “off-shoring” of work (p. 129), education levels and age. Among these, education ranks high in the ladder of factors that influence future earnings. Other factors identified as playing a role in the income polarization in Canada are mainly institutional such as unionization and minimum wages (p. 131). On gender and wage inequality, the study found out that due to increased participation of women in the Canadian labor market, the gender differences in the labor force have now dwindled and the gap between men and women in terms of wage income earnings significantly reduced. Women are also now more involved in labor unions than ever before hence streamlining the wage differences. The authors attribute this achievement to the increased participation of more educated women in the workforce and labor related issues. The usefulness of this article is that it lays bare the state or trend of income distribution and the factors that are responsible for this hence is likely to inform policy or legislative reforms and interventions in order to address the existing income inequalities. However, the major weakness of the study in this article is that the authors have failed to show the specific setting where the study was conducted in Canada because this could have influenced the findings.
Conclusion
In summary, the authors have managed to bring out clearly the situation of income in equalities and what can be done to redress it by the Canadian authorities. The article is valuable in understanding how various factors contribute in income disparities in Canada. I have learnt from this article that education level plays a significant role in determining income levels within a population. The implication of this research is that it will inform other future studies to corroborate the findings and hence form a foundation for action by the relevant governmental authorities.
References
Fortin, N., Green, D.A., Lemieux, T., Milligan, K., & Riddell, W.C. (2012, June). Canadian Inequality: Recent Developments and Policy Options. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, 38 (2), 121-145. Retrieved March 13, 2016, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41756751
