Posts Tagged ‘poverty’
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Ending child poverty: the time is now
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
Across all family types, families were living in deeper poverty than they were in 2015, the year the federal poverty reduction strategy measures progress from. Custom data shows that the Canada Child Benefit has lost its power to sustain poverty reduction and that income inequality among families with children is widening… children from systemically marginalized groups experience significantly disproportionately high poverty rates
Tags: jurisdiction, multiculturalism, poverty, youth
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
I’ve dated a billionaire and lived on minimum wage. This is the one, radical solution to the inequalities I’ve seen
Tuesday, November 12th, 2024
Our economic system was born of the false premise that if the wealthy are prioritized in government policies, their wealth will trickle down to the poor. Since 2020, the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes. Recently, the CBC reported that “income inequality in Canada (had) hit the highest level ever recorded.”… Minimum wage increases have little impact in a system that enables and perpetuates kleptocracy.
Tags: poverty, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
How to quell the sharp rise in youth violence in Canada
Friday, November 8th, 2024
Major risk factors for violence include limited access to economic opportunities, family instability and neighbourhood disadvantage. Without interventions that address these risks, vulnerable youth and adults are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour or reoffend. A key vital component of violence prevention is trauma-informed case management… community-based programs… can more holistically support the needs of youth leading to better choices and coping mechanisms.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, mental Health, multiculturalism, poverty, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Key takeaways: What is the state of welfare in Canada?
Monday, October 28th, 2024
… overall, adequacy is still a problem. And there are two components…: the actual amount of the benefit, federal and provincial components, and indexation… it’s terrific that more jurisdictions have indexed their benefits or part of their benefits, but this should be a given without any question… maybe it’s time for an income supplement for lower-income families… And third, if there is any increase in any federal benefits, we have to make sure that there is no clawback.
Tags: jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
There are Better Ways to Spend $3 Billion on Seniors than Boosting OAS
Monday, October 7th, 2024
If $3 billion per year were spent on seniors, where would it be best spent: Income security, supports, services or residential and nursing care? And if income security turns out to be the answer to that question, then why via OAS, which is paid to 7 million Canadian seniors? Should it not instead be the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which is targeted towards to Canada’s 2.2 million lowest income seniors almost all of whom really do struggle to make ends meet?
Tags: budget, economy, poverty, Seniors
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Fully Indexing Ontario Social Assistance is Long Overdue
Monday, October 7th, 2024
October 1 was the six-year anniversary of the last inflation adjustment for Ontario’s social assistance payments. Their real value has steadily eroded ever since, made worse by inflation’s recent return… The lack of indexation of Ontario social assistance benefit levels has eroded the value of these benefits significantly and contributed to rising homelessness, hunger, and demand for social and health services. It is time to introduce a more economically efficient and fairer way of adjusting these benefits on a regular basis.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
We’re doctors. This is the glaring hole we see in our national health care conversation
Thursday, October 3rd, 2024
Eliminating out-of-pocket costs for medications used to treat diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory conditions would result in 220,000 fewer ER visits and 90,000 less hospital stays annually, saving the health care system $1.2 billion a year… Unaffordable drugs invoke worry, helplessness and dread and creates a potentially damaging dependency. Granted, it’s difficult to assign a savings to the emotional costs currently being paid, but it’s intellectually dishonest to not even mention them.
Tags: disabilities, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford’s inaction has left Ontario’s most vulnerable without a fighting chance
Monday, September 30th, 2024
The province… has ignored Ontario Works, while continuing to index many other things such as child benefits, income taxes and the minimum wage, for example. It also increased Ontario Disability Support Program amounts in 2022 and commenced indexing in 2023. The Guaranteed Annual Income System – a program aimed at low-income seniors – started indexing in 2023… Yet here we are with OW recipients suffering under a rising cost of living while the government watches from a distance.
Tags: featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario’s closure of youth detention facilities has not resulted in more support for young people
Sunday, September 29th, 2024
The move to shift youth in the justice system away from confinement and towards community is a positive one. However, without investment in community-based service providers to support youth being transitioned out of custodial settings, it is unlikely that youth will thrive. Such failures are likely to increase acute mental health crises and demands on ambulatory care within general medicine and psychiatric hospitals… [and] increase the number of youth who will come into conflict with the criminal legal system as adults.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, Indigenous, jurisdiction, poverty, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 8 Comments »
Six key takeaways from Welfare in Canada, 2023
Monday, September 16th, 2024
Total welfare incomes were deeply inadequate across Canada in 2023. Increases to social assistance benefits between 2018 and 2023 were uneven across jurisdictions. Very few jurisdictions have indexed benefits and tax credits to inflation as of 2023… Provinces and territories should invest in higher social assistance benefits and tax-delivered income supports. Governments at all levels should index all social assistance benefits and tax-delivered benefits or credits to inflation where they don’t already do so.
Tags: budget, disabilities, featured, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »