Archive for the ‘Social Security Policy Context’ Category
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Why the CERB had to be extended – and why it has to be fixed
Wednesday, June 17th, 2020
… incentives matter. If someone can receive as much money for working as not working, that’s an incentive to not work. The CERB payment is $500 a week; assuming a 35-hour week, that’s more than the minimum wage in eight provinces… If someone declines work under those conditions, it isn’t because they’re lazy or irresponsible. It just shows that they’ve got a grasp on their own financial arithmetic.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, participation
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Ontario Should Streamline Path Off Welfare With More Carrot, Less Stick
Friday, June 5th, 2020
The report recommends: Reducing the cost of working through less punitive benefit claw-back rates; and higher exemptions for earned employment income while on the program… Ensuring appropriate work requirements and support… Placing supplemental benefits outside social assistance… Shifting the focus in disability support programs from the inability to work to the ability to work.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Ottawa has the Tools to Replace the CERB
Friday, May 15th, 2020
Two groups of Canadians face particular difficulties – low-income Canadians and families with children. Low-income Canadians have been hit hardest, as they make up the largest proportion of a service-sector led shutdown… Extending the CCB and GSTC boosts will allow low-income Canadians and families with children face the post-CERB knowing that they would have the income security they need to face the likelihood of a slow and uncertain recovery.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Health, ideology, participation, poverty, women
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Ottawa to the provinces: Don’t claw back CERB for workers on social assistance
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
“Our government believes the CERB needs to be considered exempt by provinces and territories in the same way as the Canada Child Benefit to ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind” The statement comes as some Ontarians on social assistance who have lost their poverty-level jobs are receiving as much as $3,500 in CERB payments to cover wages lost in March and April… While Ontario considers what to do, the B.C. government on April 2 exempted EI and CERB from social assistance clawbacks…
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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COVID-19 has exposed wide gaps in Canada’s social-safety net
Thursday, April 9th, 2020
This pandemic has shone an unflattering light on how austerity measures have led to fewer investments in supporting individuals and families – measures that would have helped cushion the blow that many people in Canada are now feeling… While governments across the country have rushed to respond to this crisis by investing in social programs and financial assistance, when we reach the other side of COVID-19 those social programs must stay in place – societal inequities that existed before this crisis won’t disappear on their own.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Did free cash drive people to quit work? Not according to a new study of Ontario’s basic income experiment
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Three-quarters of people who were employed before joining Ontario’s ill-fated basic income pilot project continued to work while receiving the no-strings-attached monthly stipend, according to a new study. And more than one-third of those low-wage workers were able to move to higher paying and more secure jobs… The findings shatter the belief among skeptics that basic income discourages people from working.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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What poverty reduction advocates should know about the updated poverty measure
Friday, February 28th, 2020
… the basket now includes the cost of cell phone services… actual rents… updated in line with inflation… Under the new measure poverty has fallen from 14.5% in 2015 to 11.0% in 2018… it’s designed to show the overall level of poverty across a population rather than determine if a particular household is in poverty… to track how poverty is changing in different regions and for different groups. It’s best used to inform poverty reduction efforts… the data shows that single working-age adults have one of the highest poverty rates.
Tags: ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Changes to social assistance could harm, not help, people living in poverty
Wednesday, February 26th, 2020
The government is hoping to integrate employment and training services provided to social assistance recipients with Employment Ontario. Currently, municipalities are responsible for delivering these services for social assistance recipients, but the proposed reforms would transfer responsibility to Service System Managers across 15 regions in the province. These organizations can be municipalities or non-profit or for-profit entities, and they will be selected through a competitive process… similar reforms in Australia and the UK have been riddled with problems.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation
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Canada’s poverty rate declines, but strides less apparent for single people
Monday, February 24th, 2020
Canada’s poverty rate declined to a new low in 2018 as the number of low-income people has fallen by more than one million over a three-year period… The percentage of Canadians in poverty was 8.7 per cent, down from 9.5 per cent in 2017 and the lowest under the current formula, which is soon to be replaced… Statscan pointed to gains in market income – that is, income from employment, private pensions and investments – with making an impact… a government focus on child benefits – both at the federal and provincial levels – has also helped
Tags: budget, economy, housing, ideology, participation, poverty
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People live in fear’: What the auditor general’s report could mean for disability support in Ontario
Friday, January 10th, 2020
Ordering tests and specialist reports, particularly for conditions that are not expected to improve, places a burden on the health-care system, as well as causing stress for recipients… People are constantly worried — it contributes to your mental health. We’ve had clients who were unsuccessful at a medical review, and it caused a relapse in their condition.”
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, poverty
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