The New Social Condition Index

Archived Topic Box from the 2005 Fifth Annual Benchmark Report

The introduction of the Social Condition Index coincides with an expansion of the BC Progress Board's benchmarking of social indicators. New to our formal reporting structure this year are income assistance and long-term unemployment. Income assistance has been addressed in previous reports as a supplemental topic in our regional BC comparisons, but not in province to province comparisons. Long-term unemployment was not covered in previous benchmarking reports.

The switch to this index for Core Target 6 from the percent of families and unattached individuals with income below the after-tax low income cut-off (LICO) has been done in recognition of LICOs weaknesses and to highlight the challenges, beyond LICO rates, that BC has in measured social condition. The BC Progress Board has consistently expressed concerns about Statistics Canada's LICO and has sought a better indicator of low income incidence. The market basket measure (see page 132) will not be a viable option for several years and may not even prove to be a useful replacement for LICO. British Columbia held the bottom rank among provinces for its LICO rate in 1999 and for 2001-2003. Its best rank over the period 1994 through 2003 was seventh and its most frequent rank was ninth. British Columbia's performance on the Social Condition Index is little different, although there are fewer last place ranks.

British Columbia's best rank on all five components of the index over the 1994 through 2003 period was first on the low birth weight rate, but strong ranks were limited to this component. British Columbia ranked last for the crime rate in every year except 2002. The worst rank BC earned on income assistance was seventh and the best was fifth although the modal (i.e., the most frequent) rank was fifth as well. British Columbia's worst long-term unemployment rank was tenth and its modal rank was ninth.

As with the Health Outcomes Index, adjustments such as incorporating a moving average have not been made and the index components are all drawn from the same year even though more current data are available for some (e.g., crime).

Up-to-date information on the index and its components: LICO (performance indicator 22, or PI22); low weight birth rate (PI23); the crime rate (PI24); income assistance (PI25); and, long-term unemployment (PI26) is available.