Archive for the ‘Social Security’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Ontario gives with one hand, takes with the other
Friday, August 1st, 2014
… every time the Ontario Child Benefit goes up, the parent’s basic needs allowance goes down by a commensurate amount. To policy-makers, this makes perfect sense. It takes children off the welfare rolls and encourages their parents to get a job. To parents struggling to make ends meet, it makes no sense whatsoever. The province gives with one hand and takes with the other, leaving them no better off. In fact, they lose ground because the cost of living is rising faster than social assistance rates.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, women, youth
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Northern Ontario has beautiful landscape but crushing poverty
Monday, July 28th, 2014
OHIP will cover the cost of an ambulance to take people to the nearest hospital (which can be hundreds of kilometres away). But they have to find their own way home. That might make sense in downtown Toronto, but in northern Ontario it leaves patients stranded… For front-line workers who live in the north, the ultimate absurdity is the province’s “nutritious food basket.” … [It] excludes prepared foods, snack foods and “foods of little nutritional value.” Often that’s all their clients can get.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Can Kathleen Wynne change the conversation on poverty?
Sunday, July 13th, 2014
Forty per cent of those who suffer food insecurity in Canada live in Ontario. A job in the province no longer protects against poverty — a full 10 per cent of those using food banks are gainfully employed. Immigrants, newcomers and other vulnerable groups are over-represented in precarious employment, often working multiple part-time jobs and still not earning enough to make ends meet. Social assistance recipients are living at least 40 per cent below any accepted poverty line, and thousands of people, including many youth, are homeless, living in shelters or on the streets.
Tags: disabilities, economy, featured, homelessness, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Kathleen Wynne’s pledge to tackle poverty needs fleshing out
Saturday, July 12th, 2014
Wynne is right to take the long view and push poverty reduction higher up on the priority list as the books gradually improve. That in itself is good for the economy. However, her agenda needs fleshing out… Even after the modest top-ups in the budget, there will be a substantial gap between social assistance rates under Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program and the current poverty line… At a minimum, Queen’s Park could index social assistance to prevent people from falling further behind.
Tags: budget, child care, disabilities, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living, women
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Six questions Ontario must answer before it starts a pension plan
Friday, July 11th, 2014
The ORPP will be mandatory for any paid employee that is not already covered by a pension plan with their employer. But what qualifies as a pension plan? … [We need to:] Be precise about the policy target… Be clear about any redistribution that will occur… Notice that low-income families won’t benefit from a simple expansion of benefits… deal with interprovincial migration… [and not] get locked into something that won’t work for other provinces.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 1 Comment »
$20,000 per person: Activists push for guaranteed minimum income for Canadians
Sunday, June 29th, 2014
… Basic Income Canada Network, envisions a country where everyone is assured a minimum of $20,000 annually to make ends meet… The idea is hardly new… but it has enjoyed a resurgence lately… Proponents on the left argue it represents an opportunity for greater redistribution of wealth, while those on the right see it as a chance to cut back on bureaucracy and return control to people’s lives… The two sides disagree, however, on whether there would be accompanying tax hikes and whether other social programs would remain place.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Solutions to poverty start with good data
Wednesday, May 7th, 2014
We can’t solve a problem we don’t understand… The more accurate these numbers are, the better Canadians can evaluate their own country’s development and trade policies…. No methodology can reduce quality of life to an incontrovertible number; no set of poverty statistics is ever perfect… This is not just about re-evaluating pie charts. It’s about re-evaluating priorities.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Ontario and federal pension plan pitches: Why both are smart policy
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014
Opponents of plans such as this, including an enhanced CPP, say employers and workers can’t afford the costs. But what if these costs were seen as a way of forestalling governments of the future from raising taxes to support retirees who didn’t save enough? … We can’t give up on urging people to save more for retirement on their own, but let’s recognize that the track record for advocacy like this is weak. We need retirement programs where savings are deducted at source.
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
CPP hike a better fix for retirees
Tuesday, April 29th, 2014
There is probably no harm in writing provisions for target-benefit plans into the federal pension-standards law, but it’s a bandage on a wooden leg… The Canada and Quebec pension plans operate efficiently and serve the entire labour force. The provincial governments, which control the public plans jointly with the federal government, are already on board for expansion. A series of small, staged contribution increases with long advance notice should allow companies to adjust.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 1 Comment »
A new ‘OPP’ could be a lifeline for Ontarians
Sunday, April 27th, 2014
The CPP is a world-class success. Its only shortcoming is that there is not enough of it to go around, because Ottawa has consistently refused to increase the amount of contributions — and thus payouts — needed to ensure a comfortable retirement for most middle-class Canadians… Replicating the CPP model also leaves open the possibility that federal and provincial governments could follow Ontario’s lead in future
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Recent Comments