1. The Well-Being of Children in the Canadian North.. Angela Daley Department of Economics, Dalhousie University This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite. I gratefully acknowledge Shelley Phipps for her contributions. I also thank Heather Hobson for vetting the output. Data were accessed the Atlantic Research Data Centre.

2. Motivation Methodology Descriptive Analysis Regression Analysis Limitations Future Direction Overview of Presentation This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite. Is there correlation between residence in Northern Canada and subjective well-being among children?

3. Why study Northern Canada? - We delineate Northern Canada by the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut - The North is vastly different from the rest of Canada in terms of geography (e.g. climate, remoteness), demography (e.g. young population, large proportion of Aboriginal residents) and other dimensions Motivation This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

4. Why study Northern Canada? - While little is known about subjective well-being in the Territorial North, the literature indicates an unconditional Aboriginal health gap that tends to converge when controlling for demography, socio-economic conditions and behaviour (e.g. Tjepkema, 2002) Motivation This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

5. Why study children? - The North is characterized by a young population - Childhood circumstance affects well-being throughout the lifecycle (e.g. Almond, 2006; Case and Paxson, 2009) - Health is a mechanism for the inter-generational transmission of socio-economic status (e.g. Currie and Moretti, 2003) Motivation This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

6. Methodology. Canadian Community Health Survey - Cycles 2.1, 3.1, 2007 and 2008 - Data are reported by children with parental consent Descriptive and Regression Analyses - Measures of subjective well-being include self- reported mental and overall health - Correlates of subjective well-being comprise personal characteristics, family environment, economic variables and alternate measures of well-being This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

7. Measures of Well-Being. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

8. Measures of Well-Being. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

9. Measures of Well-Being. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

10. Measures of Well-Being. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

11. Personal Characteristics. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

12. . Personal Characteristics

13. Family Environment. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

14. Family Environment. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

15. Family Environment. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

16. Economic Variables. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

17. Economic Variables. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

18. Economic Variables. This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

19. . Alternate Measures of Well-Being

20. . This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

21. We estimate ordered probit models of mental and overall health as functions of geography, time, Aboriginal status, personal characteristics, family environment, economic variables and alternate measures of well-being The sample comprises 13,500 observations - There are 350 children from the North, of which 215 are Aboriginal. There are 13,150 children from Southern Canada, of which 620 are Aboriginal Regression Analysis This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

22. …

23. Regression Analysis This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite. There is negative correlation between Aboriginal status, mental and overall health; while residence in the North has negligible effects Findings suggest the importance of policy related to obesity and overweight status, family type, exposure to second-hand smoke and economic security. They are important for child well-being and substandard among the Aboriginal population

24. Data exclude residents outside of the 10 largest communities in Nunavut; thus estimates may not be representative of all children in the North Estimates are subject to recall and cultural bias The small sample may limit power to detect statistically significant relationships between residence in the North and subjective well-being Limitations This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

25. Future Direction Examine other measures of well-being including life satisfaction, obesity and overweight status Evaluate the effect of social policy on child well- being while controlling for unobserved heterogeneity - Are disparities larger when social assistance payments are lower in a particular region or time period? This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.

26. Questions or Comments? This research is highly preliminary. Please do not cite.