Poverty reduction in Hamilton: Where do we stand?

Vol. 6, Issue 2, June 13, 2019

Hamilton's Labour Market Connection

Your weekly news & updates from WPH!

In this week's edition: Read a new SPRC report on the progress of poverty reduction in Hamilton; Lack of time to retrain will affect women; Six ways to make room for the next generation of leaders

Don’t Stop Now! Progress in Poverty Reduction:

Analysis from Hamilton and Ontario, 1996-2016

Poverty in Hamilton is still prevalent, but a new analysis of poverty rates in Hamilton shows a reduction from 21.9% in 1996 to 16.6% in 2016

using Statistics Canada Census data, mirroring a trend in provincial poverty rates.

The Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton’s report released on June 12/19, Don’t Stop Now! Progress in Poverty Reduction: Analysis from Hamilton and Ontario, 1996-2016 points to poverty reduction policies that have contributed to this decline.

These improvements in the poverty rate are modest, but they are important evidence that public policies that are aimed at reducing

poverty are working. In the report, the SPRC summarizes policies in the areas of income and employment supports, education funding

as well as economic changes including increases to the minimum wage as key drivers to poverty reduction,” said Sara Mayo, Social Planner at the SPRC and the report’s co-author.

Read the report here.

Lack of time to retrain seen as risk to working women as automation spreads

Up to one-quarter of working women may need to move into higher-skilled jobs by 2030 due to the spread of automation and technology but many were at risk of not having time to retrain, according to a recently released study.

A study by McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the U.S.-based management consulting firm, found men and women in 10 countries faced similar risks of being forced out of jobs in the next decade but also of taking advantage of job gains.

The report found between 40 million to 160 million women - or seven to 24% of those now employed - may need to shift occupations by 2030 but

they would need new skills to do so as only jobs requiring degrees may experience growth in demand.

Read more here.

NextGen Leaders: Six ways to make room for the next generation of leaders

Here are six things you can do to make sure you are making room for up and coming leaders:

Do an audit of your HR practices. Find out where in your hiring and promotion process you might be creating barriers for people who have not yet had the title of leader.

We often rely a lot on what people have done previously to indicate to us what they can do in the future. We use ‘when did you?’ or ‘where did you?’ questions and have significant experiential requirements for many leadership positions.