The first report of the Institute of Wellbeing is out, and while researchers say overall things are going well, they say Canadians’ sense of well-being over the last ten years hasn’t matched the economic growth.
The report highlights an increasing gap between the rich and the poor, along with a trend of increasing obesity among young people. The group plans to lobby policymakers toward thinking of other indicators of improvement beyond economic growth.
One such area is a liveable wage. City council recently voted down applying a minimum wage among its staff and contractors that matched what it actually costs to live in the city.
“The fact that we do not provide appropriate income and supports for people is affecting their health in serious ways,” said Noel Keough of the Canadian Institute of Wellbeing.
“People’s self-rated health, how they feel about themselves as well as objective measures of health, are all showing up worse in lower income brackets.”
