Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada Indice de progrs vritable Atlantique The Heart and Stroke

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Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic CanadaIndice
de progrès véritable - AtlantiqueThe Heart and
Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick6th Workplace
Wellness ConferenceEconomics as if People
Mattered
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1. As we enter the new
millenniumHow are we doing as Canadians?

• Are we better off or worse off than our parents?
• Are our communities safer and stronger?
• Are we healthier and wiser?
• Are our jobs and livelihoods more secure?
• Are our air and water cleaner?
• Are our natural resources healthier?
• Are we leaving Canada a better place for our
  children?

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What kind of world are we leaving to our
children?We have more stuffBUT

• The natural world -- some disturbing signs
• Less fish in the oceans
• Fewer old forests
• Depleted soils
• Fewer species of animals and plants
• Are we leaving our children a poorer natural
  world?
• A dangerously warming world?

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What kind of world are we leaving to our children?

• And some disturbing socio-economic signs
• A more insecure world -- less safe, more fearful
• Declining job security and real incomes for many
• Greater inequality and more child poverty
• Higher rates of stress, obesity, childhood asthma
• Voluntary activity declining
• Is this progress..?

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Economics as if People Didnt Matter

• We currently measure how well off we are as a
  society by how fast the economy is growing.
• The language of health A growing economy is
  robust healthy dynamic.
• If people spend less money, consumer confidence
  is weak.
• If economy shrinks, we have a depression

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Current Measures of Wellbeing Based on GDP

• Count crime, war, sickness, pollution, addiction
  and stress as contributions to economic growth
  and prosperity.
• Count the depletion of our natural resources as
  gain. The more trees we cut down, the more fish
  we catch, the more fossil fuels we burn, the
  faster the economy will grow.

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Current Measures of Wellbeing

• Ignore the value of voluntary work and unpaid
  household work.
• Count longer work hours as contributions to
  economic growth and prosperity.
• Ignore the value of free time.
• Assign no value to health, security, wisdom,
  environmental quality or strong communities.

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Current Measures of Wellbeing

• Give no value to equity The economy can grow
  even as inequality and poverty increase 1990s
• In sum Make no distinction between economic
  activities that create benefit and those that
  cause harm Misleading signals to policy makers
• More is always better when GDP is used to
  measure wellbeing

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This impacts workplace wellness

• Measuring success materialistically (income,
  possessions, getting ahead)/ working poor
• Both lead to culture of long hours, dual earners,
  womens double burden of paid unpaid work
• In turn leads to stress, loss of free time, less
  time with children, physical inactivity, obesity
  (StatCan), voluntary activity down 4 in N.B.

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Total Work Hours, Couple with Children, Canada,
1900 and 2000

• 1900 2000
• Male, paid work 58.5 42
• Female, paid work -- 36.5
• Male, unpaid work N.A. 22.4
• Female, unpaid work 56 33.6
• Total work hours 114.5 134.5

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Indicators are Powerful

• What we measure
• - reflects what we value as a society
• - determines what makes it onto the policy
  agenda.
• E.g. Family-friendly work arrangements (cf
  Scandinavia)
• E.g. Voluntary work decline
• Analogy of student assignments

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All that is economics as if people didn't matter.
Robert Kennedy

• Too much and too long, we have surrendered
  community excellence and community values in the
  mere accumulation of material things....The (GDP)
  counts air pollution and cigarette advertising
  and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
  Yet the gross national product does not allow for
  the health of our children, the quality of their
  education, or the joy of their play. It measures
  neither our wit nor our courage neither our
  wisdom nor our learning neither our compassion
  nor our devotion to our country. It measures
  everything, in short, except that which makes
  life worthwhile.

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There is a better way!

• Four hundred leading economists, including Nobel
  Laureates, said
• Since the GDP measures only the quantity of
  market activity without accounting for the social
  and ecological costs involved, it is both
  inadequate and misleading as a measure of true
  prosperity....New indicators of progress are
  urgently needed to guide our society....The
  Genuine Progress Index (GPI) is an important step
  in this direction.

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ECONOMICS as if PEOPLE MATTERED

• GPI Atlantic founded 1997 to address that need
  independent non-profit.
• Mandate Create better measures of progress
• Nova Scotia pilot project for Canada, working
  closely with Statistics Canada
• Can provide more accurate and comprehensive
  measures of workplace wellness

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Measuring Genuine Progress

• In the Genuine Progress Index (GPI)
• Natural resources are seen as capital assets
  subject to depreciation and requiring
  re-investment.
• Crime, sickness, disasters and pollution clean up
  are counted as costs rather than contributions to
  well-being.
• Voluntary work, unpaid household work, free time,
  health, educational attainment are valued.

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Measuring Genuine Progress

• In the Genuine Progress Index (GPI)
• Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,
  pollution, crime, poverty, ecological footprint
  are signs of genuine progress that make the index
  rise. Unlike measures based on GDP, "less" is
  sometimes "better" in the GPI.
• Growing equity makes the GPI go up.

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Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index Twenty-two
Components Natural Capital

• Soils and Agriculture
• Forests
• Marine Environment/Fisheries
• Water Resources / Water Quality
• Nonrenewable Subsoil Assets

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Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index Twenty-two
Components Environment

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Sustainable Transportation
• Ecological Footprint Analysis
• Air Quality
• Solid Waste

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Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index Twenty-two
Components Time Use

• Value of Civic and Voluntary Work
• Value of Unpaid Housework Childcare
• Work Time and Underemployment
• Value of Leisure Time
• Vital issues for Workplace Wellness

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Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index Twenty-two
Components Socioeconomic

• Income Distribution
• Debt, External Borrowing and Capital Movements
• Valuations of Durability
• Composite Livelihood Security Index

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Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index Twenty-two
Components Social Capital

• Health and Wellness (5 reports)
• Educational Attainment
• Costs of Crime
• Human Freedom Index

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Work to Date

• 35 full reports 13 of 22 components complete
• Community GPI (two rural communities)
• Beyond Nova Scotia
• National Round Table, Health Canada
• Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, BC
• Replications (e.g. Cost of Obesity in N.B.)
• Press and policy penetration

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Partnerships

• Statistics Canada, Environment Canada, National
  Crime Prevention Centre, Canadian Population
  Health Initiative, HRDC, many community groups
• Dalhousie Univ. Population Health Research Unit
• St. Marys University Time Use Research Program
• Maritime Centre of Excellence for Womens Health
• Cape Breton Wellness Centre, UCCB

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Examples of GPI Results for NB

• Valuing Voluntary Work
• New Brunswickers contribute 105 million hrs/yr
• Equivalent of 55,000 full-time jobs
• Services worth 1.4 billion / year, invisible in
  our conventional measures of progress
• 1990s voluntary work down 4 - time stress

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Valuing Equity GDP tells us how much
income, but not how income is shared
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Cost of Obesity in New Brunswick

• Overweight rates up 2.5 times since 1985
• 41 have BMI gt27, highest in Canada (29),
  compared to 16.5 (1985) youth rates double
• 750 preventable deaths/year 3,000 PYLL
• Health care direct cost 96 million 7.5
• Total economic cost 200 million, 1.4GDP
  Tobacco costs 290 million / year

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Other Risk Factors in N.B.

• 1/2 exercise regularly (3 times per week) 27
  never exercise or exercise lt 1x / week
• Average 3 hours 23 minutes TV / day
• Eat out more spend 28 less time preparing food
  than 1992
• More than 25 high levels chronic stress

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Costs of Second-Hand Smoke in the Workplace

• 30 of Nova Scotians smoke, the highest rate of
  any province in the country (CTUMS 2000).
• 38 of 20-44 year olds smoke.
• 42 of children under 12 are regularly exposed to
  environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the home.
• 24 of Nova Scotians are exposed to ETS at work.

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The Deadly and Costly Effects of Smoking

• Smoking kills 1650 Nova Scotians a year
• Smoking costs NS 168 million/year in health
  costs
• Second-hand smoke kills 200 Nova Scotians a
  year,(140 from heart disease, 60 from cancers).
• Second-hand smoke costs 21 million a year in
  health costs and 57 million in productivity
  losses

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The Deadly Effects of ETS

• ETS causes heart disease, lung cancer, nasal
  sinus cancer and respiratory ailments in adults.
• ETS causes sudden infant death syndrome, fetal
  growth impairment, bronchitis, pneumonia, middle
  ear disease and asthma exacerbation in infants
  and children.

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Recent Research Also Shows

• ETS has been linked to cervical and breast
  cancer, stroke, and miscarriages in adults and
  to asthma induction, decreased lung function,
  cystic fibrosis, and cognition and behaviour
  problems in children

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Restaurant, Bar and Casino Workers Most at Risk

• In restaurants, second-hand smoke levels are
  twice as high as in other workplaces without
  smoke bans. In bars and casinos they are 3-6
  times as high.
• Food service workers have a 50 higher rate of
  lung cancer than the general population.
• Excess mortality for workers in smoking lounges,
  bars, restaurants, casinos and bowling alleys is
  15-26 times higher than OSHAs significant risk
  level.
• Establishment of smoke-free bars and taverns was
  associated with a rapid improvement of
  respiratory health. Eisner, 1998

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Costs of Second-Hand Smoke, NS, 1999

• Deaths 200
• Potential years of life lost 2,900
• Hospitalizations 1,400
• Hospital Days 15,000

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Direct Health Care Costs of ETS (1999 mill.)

• Hospitals 15.2
• Ambulance Services 0.3
• Physician fees 1.5
• Prescription Drugs 3.2
• Other Health Care Costs 0.3
• Total Direct Health Care Costs 20.5

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Indirect Costs of ETS (1999 millions)

• Productivity loss (sickness) 0.7
• Productivity loss (mortality) (6 discount rate)
  57.1
• TOTAL COST TO ECONOMY 77.6
• Sources Costs based on Canadian Centre for
  Substance Abuse, The Costs of Substance Abuse in
  Canada, Colman, The Cost of Tobacco in Nova
  Scotia, pages 15-20, and mortality rates in
  Glantz and Parmley, (1995), op. cit., and
  Steenland, (1992),op. cit..

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Smoke-Free Workplaces Will Save Lives and Money

• 80 of ETS exposure is in the workplace.
• Smoke-free workplaces cut cigarette consumption
  among smokers by 20.
• Smoke-free workplaces can save 400-500 lives a
  year, 50 million in avoided health costs, and
  150 million in avoided productivity losses.

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And savings to employers

• It costs Canadian employers 2,280 more to employ
  a smoker compared to a non-smoker.
  Conference Board of Canada
• Smoke-free workplaces can save NS employers 25
  million a year in avoided absenteeism and smoking
  areas costs, and lower insurance premiums.
• Strong economic incentives exist for rapid
  adoption of smoke-free workplaces.
  American College of Occupational and
  Environmental Medicine

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Are Smoke Bans Bad for Business?

• Without exception, every objective study using
  actual sales data finds that smoke-free
  legislation has no adverse impact on restaurant,
  bar, hotel and tourism receipts. (Studies
  conducted in California, Colorado, Massachusetts,
  New York, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Vermont, North
  Carolina, and British Columbia.)
• Two of the 16 studies found an initial decline in
  receipts in the first 1-2 months following
  enactment, but no overall or aggregate decline in
  the longer term.
• Several studies find smoke-free legislation is
  good for business as non-smokers eat and drink
  out more often.

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The Researchers Conclude

• Legislators and government officials can enact
  health and safety regulations to protect patrons
  and employees in restaurants and bars from the
  toxins in secondhand tobacco smoke without fear
  of adverse economic consequences.... these data
  further discredit tobacco industry claims that
  smoke-free bar laws are bad for the bar business.
  Quite the contrary, these laws appear to be good
  for business. Glantz 1997 and 2000
  (California)

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The Evidence Clearly Shows

• Second-hand smoke causes heart disease, cancer
  and respiratory illness. Smoke-free workplace
  legislation will save the lives of hundreds of
  Nova Scotians, prevent serious illnesses, and
  save 200 million in avoided health costs and
  productivity losses.
• Restaurant, bar and casino workers are exposed to
  the highest levels of ETS and have the greatest
  health risks.
• Designated non-smoking areas and ventilation do
  not work. Only 100 smoke-free environments
  protect employees/patrons.
• Smoke-free legislation will not harm restaurant,
  bar, hotel and tourism sales, and may be good for
  business.

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Valuing Natural Capital

• For example, forest functions / values include
• Preventing soil erosion/sediment control
• Protecting watersheds
• Climate regulation/carbon sequestration
• Providing habitat for wildlife / biodiversity
• Recreation, tourism, aesthetic quality
• Providing timber

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Forest Area by Age Class, NS 1958-99
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Clearcut harvesting and loss of age and species
diversity in NS have resulted in the loss of

• valuable species
• wide diameter, clear lumber - fetch premium
  prices
• resilience and resistance to insect infestation
• wildlife habitat, - decreasing populations of
  birds
• forest recreation values that impact nature
  tourism
• valuable old-growth dependent medicinal plants

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This represents a substantial depreciation of a
valuable natural capital asset.

• And
• a decline in forested watershed protection and a
  50 drop in shade-dependent brook trout
• soil degradation and the leaching of nutrients
  that can affect future timber productivity
• a substantial decline in carbon storage capacity
  and an increase in biomass carbon loss
• a decline in other essential forest ecosystem
  services.

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Ecological FootprintNova Scotia and Canada,
1961-1999
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Ecological Footprint ProjectionsCanada 1995-2020
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Can we do it?Percentage Waste Diversion in Nova
Scotia
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Competitiveness and Genuine Progress