Archive for the ‘Social Security Debates’ Category
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Social-assistance rates in Ontario should ‘set off alarm bells’: Report
Thursday, October 5th, 2023
Researchers have found that being on social assistance in Ontario is correlated with a higher likelihood of poor health outcomes, homelessness, and food insecurity, among other things… In fact, the “Welfare in Canada” report finds that both OW and ODSP rates have been below the deep poverty line since 2008… “You show how you value people through how you budget.”
Tags: disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Governments should see social assistance as a solution, not a problem
Thursday, October 5th, 2023
Shouldn’t social assistance prevent poverty? At minimum, it should be a net that prevents people from falling into abject poverty. But it should also provide a ladder, something that people can use to help them up. By failing to deliver social assistance that performs either of these functions, governments are squandering the opportunity to improve people’s lives, their health, and, where possible, their ability to get and maintain paid work.
Tags: Alan Broadbent. Elizabeth McIsaac, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
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Realizing the right to an adequate standard of living
Monday, September 4th, 2023
Everyone in Canada has a right to an adequate standard of living… having adequate food, clothing, and housing, and the continuous improvement of living conditions. [ICESCR – 1976] Maytree’s submission to the 2024 budget calls on the federal government to help people realize this right by strengthening income supports, investing in more affordable housing, and embedding human rights into social policies and programs.
Tags: disabilities, housing, poverty, rights, standard of living
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Basic income could help create a more just and sustainable food system
Monday, May 1st, 2023
… a basic income guarantee could not only be an important tool for addressing economic access to food, but also in supporting sustainability across the food system… reducing economic uncertainty for the most vulnerable agriculture and fisheries workers… [and] supporting new entrants in agriculture and fisheries. Across Canada, the commercial fishing and farming workforces are aging.
Tags: economy, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
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Does Ottawa’s grocery rebate signal a shift to a broader guaranteed basic income?
Monday, April 10th, 2023
Food banks… were first introduced as a temporary measure in the early 1980s in response to economic downturn… though inadequate… they are now relied upon as part of the “social safety net.”… What’s required now is a fundamental philosophical shift in societal and political will to go beyond grocery rebates and support efficient government programming that supports the choice, agency and dignity of all Canadians, regardless of income.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
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What the new Ontario budget means for those on social assistance
Friday, March 24th, 2023
In this budget, as in all its previous changes to social assistance, the government did not introduce any new funding for the province’s nearly 400,000 Ontario Works beneficiaries. Ontario Works is social assistance for those who are not disabled but cannot work. The program provides a maximum of $733 per month for a single adult, an amount that has not changed since 2018, when the current government halved planned increases .
Tags: budget, disabilities, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
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Getting a fuller picture of poverty in Canada: why the government’s official poverty measure is insufficient
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
The material dimension of poverty is calculated by taking low-income and material deprivation indicators into account… Examples of these necessities include a pair of properly fitting shoes and at least one pair of winter boots; the ability to eat meat, fish or another protein equivalent every second day; and the ability to buy small gifts for family or friends once a year.
Tags: ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Better income assistance programs are needed to help people with rising cost of living
Friday, September 30th, 2022
If the goal of temporary assistance is to help those in need, it must have broader coverage and better tapering. The only program that qualifies at present is the GST credit, but even these payments are modest and only delivered quarterly… A more generous income assistance program should also have more frequent regular payments… a guaranteed basic income for working-age Canadians, might provide better support for those in need.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
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Boost social assistance
Thursday, September 22nd, 2022
The Doug Ford government raised ODSP payments by five per cent this month… and will index them to inflation. There was no increase to Ontario Works payments… It’s painfully clear that the base amounts for both programs are simply inadequate given the sharp rise in housing and food costs over the last year… More financial help is needed.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Why we need to care about single adults living in poverty
Friday, July 1st, 2022
… single adults made up more than 60 per cent of OW cases and nearly 80 per cent of ODSP cases in 2021. Together, they equal the population of Ontario’s fastest growing city… The social assistance system was intended to be an emergency system – a last resort when all else failed. Well, all else is failing. Our other social systems are not preventing single adults from living in poverty. Rather, these systems are pushing people into poverty and holding them there… our social safety net is a relic of another era, as is our notion of who needs it.
Tags: disabilities, featured, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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