When we think about worklife issues; it’s important to keep an eye on various reports. This report has some interesting findings worth consideration.
Excerpted from the 2007 Annual Benchmark Report of the BC Progress Board:
BC’s performance relative to the rest of the country has shown general improvement between the first annual benchmark report and this – the seventh – annual report. The Board’s initial goal for the six core targets was to maintain first place in Canada in environmental quality and health outcomes, and to achieve a first or second place rank in the other four core targets. For each objective, the Board has three core targets and 13 performance indicators. Under the “Economy, Innovation, and Education” objective, the core targets are: economic growth, standard of living, and jobs. Under the “Environment, Health and Society” objective, the core targets are: environmental quality, health outcomes, and social condition. Since the Progress Board was established in 2001, BC has maintained its first place rank in environmental quality and health outcomes. BC has maintained its third place rank in standard of living thanks to solid personal income gains. As well, BC has seen strong employment growth. Although the province earned a sixth place rank for economic growth in 2006, the general economic outlook remains strong. In social condition, however, BC has lagged compared to the other provinces. The province is performing particularly poorly in two of the performance indicators that make up this composite index: the crime rate, and the number of families and unattached individuals with income below the after-tax low income cut-off. This is a continuing concern, and the Board released reports on crime and the criminal justice system and the social condition in 2006.