Three Papers on Childhood Disadvantage and Child Policy in Canada

Three papers on childhood disadvantage and child policy in Canada by Annie McEwen A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy School of Public Policy and Administration Ottawa, Faculty of Public Affairs, Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2015 Annie McEwen Abstract Over the past twenty years, child and family policy has become one of the most active areas of Canadian social policy. However, our understanding of whether children’s lives have actually improved is limited. This dissertation addresses this research gap in three papers that examine the politics of Canadian child policy, evaluate child policy outcomes, and explore the determinants of child well-being that policy attempts to affect. The first paper examines the evolution and politics of child policy in Canada from 1995- 2015. During this period, federal government spending targeted to families with children has more than doubled in real terms with a focus on increasing family income. To explain this focus, I identify four perspectives on the child in the Canadian political discourse: child as family responsibility, child as deserving poor, child as rights bearer, and child as investment. I argue that the scope of child policy in Canada has been constrained to a family income paradigm that sits at the intersection of these perspectives. The second paper evaluates the significant expansion of Canadian child benefits from 1994 to 2010. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, I compare measures of poverty and inequality with indicators of young children’s well-being. I find young Canadian children have not seen significant change in their relative economic position. Indicators of children’s physical, emotional, developmental well-being and family context remain essentially stable, as do gaps between the outcomes of poor and rich children. Understanding how household income and socioeconomic (SES) status affect child outcomes is crucial for designing effective public policies to reduce the disadvantage of growing up in poverty. In the third paper, I use structural equation modeling of NLSCY data to disentangle the different pathways of income’s and other elements of SES’s effect on children’s cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavourial outcomes. Applying theories of family stress and family investment, the analysis examines children’s activities, parenting, and family functioning as potential mediators. I find that SES has a consistently larger effect on child outcomes than income, with parenting emerging as a key mediation pathway. ii Acknowledgements The journey to complete this doctoral project has not been easy. I would not have been successful without the support of family, friends, and colleagues along the way. First, I wish to acknowledge my sincere appreciation for my dissertation committee Jennifer Stewart, Frances Woolley, and Robert Walker. All three have patiently waded through my work and provided advice that guided me out of the weeds to the final product. Earlier drafts of these dissertation papers have also benefited from the generous review and feedback from Dafna Kohen, Rubab Arim, Michael Kottelenberg, Xuelin Zhang, Linda White, Rys Farthing, Geranda Notten, David Rothwell, and Sharon Manson Singer. I began this journey at the University of Oxford, an enriching academic community that shaped both this project and my own intellectual development. Green Templeton College, the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, and the Poverty Journal Club all contributed to my experience. I am deeply grateful to Robert Walker for bringing me to Oxford, as well as continuing to support my work after I chose to leave. I would like to thank Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration for providing me an academic home upon return to Canada. My time at Carleton has diversified my academic training and given me opportunities to take my research career forward. Thank you to Saul Schwartz, whose continued enthusiasm and interest in my work continually pushed me along. My thanks as well to the staff of SPPA and the COOL-Research Data Centre, where I conducted the data analysis for this dissertation. I would also like acknowledge the Parkdale Food Centre in Ottawa, which has given me the opposite of academia’s ivory tower: a place in which to meet those who are affected by the social policy I study. My profound thanks goes to those in need who shared their stories and struggles with me, educating me in the realities of social and economic inequality. Carleton University, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) provided essential financial support for my studies. I sincerely hope this dissertation goes some way to providing a return on the public investments that have been made in me. I have been lucky to develop friendships with a few fellow travellers on this academic journey who have made the path less lonely and more enjoyable, if not easier. To Kate, Charlotte, Rys, Sheena, David, Matt, Janique, and Chuk, thank you for your support, commiseration, and honest advice. I am fortunate to have a wonderful community of friends, who have listened to my PhD gripes, celebrated my milestones, and kept me in one piece. To my team of ‘final push’ supporters (Vanessa, Andrew, Kate, Rys, Paula, Charlotte, Josh Ulla & my sisters), I iii cannot thank you enough. I owe a particularly heartfelt thanks to Andrew and Vanessa who coached me through the toughest stretches. Lastly, I am forever grateful for my family. As my research finds, it is unlikely I would be here without the advantages they have provided me. My parents, Brian McEwen and Sara Judith, gave me the best start in life and continue to encourage me on my chosen path. My grandparents, Don and Edith McEwen, always knew the value of education and their support enabled me to pursue my academic dreams. My sisters Jane, Katie, and Mary have been cheering (and goading) me on since childhood; throughout this project they supplied a steady stream of encouragement, laughter, and love. I am also grateful to my Davidson-Morrison family, who has supported me as one of their own. Finally, I wish to express my immeasurable gratitude to my husband, Shainen Davidson, who has seen this project through from initial PhD program applications to the final draft. His unfailing confidence in me has made all of this possible. iv Table of Contents Front Matter: Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. ix Introduction: Public policy to improve children’s lives 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 2 2 Motivation ................................................................................................................... 4 3 Overview of papers ...................................................................................................... 8 4 Dissertation aims ....................................................................................................... 12 References ........................................................................................................................ .14 Paper #1: Shifting perspectives and paradigmatic constraints in Canadian child policy 1995-2015 Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 22 Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. 23 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 24 2 Child policy as family income policy ........................................................................ 26 3 The role of ideas in child policy ................................................................................ 38 4 Four policy perspectives on children ......................................................................... 41 5 The Family Income Paradigm .................................................................................... 44 6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 56 Appendix A: Provincial Child Benefits ............................................................................ 59 References ......................................................................................................................... 61 Paper 2: How are the kids doing?: Canadian child well-being during a period

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