Archive for the ‘Social Security’ Category
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Ontario’s cuts to funds for poor sends miserable message
Thursday, October 18th, 2012
October 18, 2012
Much was revealed when Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government opted to slash funding for the poor while spending at least $230 million on the politically motivated closing of two gas-fired generating plants. The province faces a $14.4-billion deficit but, even in these cash-strapped times, there’s money for what really matters… no one in Ontario deserves help more than those who struggle, day after day, even for basic necessities.
Tags: budget, featured, homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Homelessness: Ontario’s $21 million cut likely to leave more people without a roof
Thursday, October 18th, 2012
October 18, 2012
A $21 million provincial cut to homelessness prevention funding in Toronto will make it harder for thousands of poor residents to stay out of shelters, residents and community advocates say… The cut takes effect during a period of high local unemployment and high rents, and as “social assistance rates no longer reflect even the most basic costs of living… More than 160,000 people are on the waiting list for affordable housing.
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | 3 Comments »
Decrying social assistance cuts
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
October 12, 2012
The programs help low-income people on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program get into housing by providing their first- and last-month rents, help cover hydro arrears or pay for needed repairs and other costs that could allow them to stay in their homes… “When you are homeless or have low income, you tend to have multiple legal problems at once… They are frequently related to housing or social assistance or the interaction between those two.”
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Evidence as guide
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
Oct. 16 2012
According to Statscan, more than 750,000 children were prevented from falling into poverty in 2010 thanks to child benefits and other programs targeted to low-income families. In Ontario, an innovative approach to child benefits was instrumental in taking 20,000 children out of poverty rolls, even as unemployment soared.
Tags: budget, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
The awful truth about social programs
Saturday, October 13th, 2012
Oct. 13 2012
Hardly any of the countless programs that spend billions of dollars to help the poor and vulnerable are measured for results. According to the Cato Institute… “We are spending more than enough money to fight poverty but not spending it in ways that actually reduce poverty”… we’ve got to start spending public money more wisely. To do that, we need rigorous evidence about what works.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Anti-poverty activists fight to save housing benefit
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
October 09, 201
… the community start-up and maintenance benefit (CSUMB) would be cut off at the end of 2012… It’s an emergency allowance, available every two years… It enables the homeless to move into an apartment. It helps low-income tenants who can’t pay their utility bill keep the lights on; job applicants buy suitable clothes; families fumigate bedbug-infested apartments; and people facing eviction pay their rent arrears.
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, ideology, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | 1 Comment »
How Dalton McGuinty can undo the welfare legacy of Mike Harris
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
October 11, 2012
Social assistance today is more or less unchanged since the Harris Tories… in the mid-1990s… The current culture stresses catching people out rather than helping them out with housing, health or addiction challenges that keep them on welfare… all these years after Harris squeezed welfare, the best way to get more out of it — and secure public support — is not necessarily with more money or less, but sounder investments.
Tags: budget, disabilities, featured, housing, ideology, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 1 Comment »
It’s time to build dignity into Ontario social assistance
Wednesday, October 10th, 2012
Oct. 09, 2012
For nearly two decades, Ontario has seen the continuous erosion of social assistance benefits and a system focused on surveillance and punishment rather than dignity and support. Our province’s social assistance system fails to provide an economic safety net. It also fails to provide opportunities for all Ontarians to contribute to the long-term prosperity of our province.
Tags: budget, disabilities, featured, housing, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 6 Comments »
The human, economic cost of poverty
Friday, September 28th, 2012
September 26, 2012
Poverty costs Niagara $1.38 billion a year in lost productivity, health-care expenses and social-support programs… If not spent on poverty social costs, $277.7 million could: Build hospital every two years, or build 1,200 new houses, or build 17 retirement homes, or buy 648 public-transit buses, or employ 5,000 people per year with yearly salary of $55,000.
Tags: budget, economy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Local poverty advocates call for national food strategy for children and youth
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
Sep 10 2012
… food security, stable housing and adequate income are closely aligned when it comes to moving people off social assistance and on to independence… from 1945 to 1960 there was co-operation between federal and provincial governments to create a national housing strategy… and… the national health-care system… the solution starts with a fundamental commitment… “We’re asking government to make that commitment.”
Tags: Health, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
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