Archive for the ‘Social Security’ Category
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Research belies PM’s warning about OAS
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Jan. 31, 2012
“The analysis suggests that Canada does not face major challenges of financial sustainability with its public pension schemes,” and “there is no pressing financial or fiscal need to increase pension ages in the foreseeable future.”… That’s because, as Canada heads into the boomer crunch, it spends far less than the OECD average on public pensions. Further, Canada’s relatively high levels of immigration will partially offset the distortions of an aging population…
Tags: pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Stephen Harper’s old-age pension cuts unnecessary
Saturday, January 28th, 2012
Jan 27 2012
There is no fiscal crisis in this country. True, the government predicts that the cost of pensions for the elderly, now about $35.6 billion, will triple by 2030… And when baby boomers start to die off, as they will from about 2020, spending on the elderly will start to decelerate on its own… the myth of pensioner excess provides an easy talking point for those anxious to cut social spending in Canada. The euro may be the true villain of the piece. But the story of the slothful Greek hairdresser is easier to understand.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 5 Comments »
Paradigm, shifted [seniors]
Saturday, January 28th, 2012
Jan. 28, 2012
Money for fighter jets? Check. Money for more prisons? Check. Money for MP pensions? Check. Money for gazebos? Check. Money for seniors? Not so fast… / our Prime Minister touted as his own Canadian economic and financial successes for which previous governments were largely responsible and offered the same nostrums – lower taxes, cuts to social programs, minimal-restriction resource exploitation, more deregulation of the private sector – which were largely responsible for the crisis in the first place.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Does Harper really need to raise the retirement age?
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012
the Canada Pension Plan is not in financial difficulty. Instead, the target of reform appears to be Old Age Security… Canadians are living longer… 5 years longer than was the case in 1967… The wellbeing of Canadian seniors has improved tremendously over the last 40 years — higher incomes, better consumption, and healthier lives. However, in the years approaching retirement ages, an increasing number of Canadians are unable to work due to disability, declining job skills, or other reasons… these Canadians may suffer as they wait for their public pension cheques to begin flowing.
Tags: budget, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Prime Minister Harper unveils grand plan to reshape Canada
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012
Mr. Harper portrayed his agenda as a fix for a generation – a fix he claimed is necessary to confront the challenges of an aging population. Canada’s demographics, he warned, pose “a threat to the social programs and services that Canadians cherish.” Preserving those social programs will likely mean cuts elsewhere… he plans to make Canada’s old-age security program sustainable. What that means is unclear. He did not spell out whether seniors will have to wait longer to receive the benefit or whether clawbacks would be increased for higher income earners.
Tags: budget, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Closing the gap between EI and welfare
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Jan 01 2012
Last year, more than 700,000 unemployed Canadians were either not covered by EI or ineligible… Under Mendelson’s proposal, income-tested forgivable loans would be available in bi-weekly payments of almost $700 for six months. The loans would be repaid based on total earnings for the year the money was received — they would be completely forgivable for those with incomes below about $10,000 and fully repayable for those earning about $71,000… All adults looking for work would be eligible for the full loan of almost $9,000 every five years and it would could cost the federal government about $1 billion annually.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Conference Board makes pitch for guaranteed annual income
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Dec 20, 2011
… a guaranteed annual income would provide a minimum level of income for every individual or family, with dollars earned above that level taxed at a relatively low marginal rate… “It would be a means of providing material income support without governments telling people how to run their lives… it could help reduce the disincentives to working and break down the “welfare wall” on earned income for the working poor as it could be taxed at lower marginal rates… if a GAI reduced the prevalence of poverty, it could create better health outcomes and help slow the rising costs of publicly-funded health care
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Social safety net needs repair
Monday, December 19th, 2011
Dec 18 2011
The cuts to the social safety net in Ontario (now being replicated across the country) greatly magnified the effects of systemic racism, which had already resulted in a disproportionate number of visible minority poor. If you are a hungry child struggling in school due to your hunger and poverty, of course you will be tempted to find some way to feed yourself, even if it means getting involved in drug-selling or other crimes. Why is anyone surprised? No clearer evidence is needed to show why we need to strengthen our social safety net
Tags: Indigenous, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Price of moving from welfare to work? $400
Saturday, December 17th, 2011
Dec 14 2011
… his college dreams of training to become a firefighter were dashed when Seneca insisted he make a $400 tuition down payment by Friday or forfeit his place in class. St Clair’s monthly welfare cheque is just $565 and he had already spent more than $300 of that on December rent for the subsidized apartment he shares with his mother… The welfare office wouldn’t help because tuition is covered by OSAP. But his OSAP loan won’t be available until he starts classes on Jan. 9… “I really want to get off welfare, but I don’t think I can do that unless I go back to school,” he said.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, poverty, rights
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Defined benefits ‘can still work’ [pensions]
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Dec. 15, 2011
In Australia, a nationwide switch away from defined benefit plans has led to widespread senior poverty. Half of Australian seniors live below the poverty line, and two thirds run out of pension income by age 75. Is that what we want here?” The beauty of DB plans is you know in advance what you’ll get out of them… you need to save $500,000 to provide yourself with an annual pension of $25,000, but that’s the reality. We owe it to people to help them get there – we need to make workplace pensions better, not worse.”
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
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