Income Security

Presentation to the Canadian Federation ofUniversity Women (Ontario Branch)

Michelynn Lafleche14 May 2011

“Like many people who find themselves destitute and reliant on social supports, the same systems that saved my life also became almost impossible for me to escape”Linda Coltman, Voices from the Street, said at the Greater Toronto Summit 2011, February 11, 2011

Presentation Overview

• What is income security?

• What is the situation today?

• What has changed or is changing for the better?

• What is hindering more positive change?

• What can be done about it?

• Selected reading list

What is income security?

• Income security is the set of policies and programs that are often referred to as the government’s “social safety net” for residents as they go through different stages of employment.

• The underlying principle is that losing one’s livelihood – for whatever reason – should not be catastrophic.

Income Security System Costs and Delivery

• Income security programs in Ontario spend more than $50 billion a year, with slightly less than half of that amount being spent on programs for seniors.

• The federal government currently pays for almost 80% of all income security programs to all age groups.

• The provincial government delivers social assistance.

• Municipalities have jurisdiction over the administration of social assistance benefits.

What is the situation today? (Jobs)

• Economic recovery without the jobs or income security many expected.

• Persistent and unequally distributed unemployment.

• Middle level jobs disappearing.

• Full-time employment and job security being replaced by precarious work and just-in-time hiring.

Percentage distribution of jobs by skill/sector categories, Toronto and the rest of Ontario, 2006

Source: Zizys, Tom. (2010). An Economy Out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass. Toronto: Toronto Workforce Innovation Group.

What is the situation today? (Poverty)

• In 2008, the most recent figures available, 10.3% of Toronto region residents live in poverty compared to 9.2% for the rest of Ontario.

• Toronto region makes up only 42.8% of Ontario’s population but it has 48% of those living in poverty.

• Poverty is most acute in the City of Toronto, 25% of residents fall below the Low Income Cut-Off line.

• In the Toronto region, 19.5% of people from racialized groups live in poverty.

• In Ontario, though racialized groups account for roughly 26% of the population, they represent 41% of those in low-income households.

• Poverty costs Ontario between $32 and $38 billion a year – $2,299 to $2,895 per household - and between 5.5% and 6.6% of Ontario’s GDP.

Census Tract average individual income compared to the Toronto CMA Average.Source: Hulchanski, David J. (2010). The Three Cities Within Toronto: Income Polarization among Toronto’s Neighbourhoods, 1970 — 2005. Toronto: University of Toronto, Cities Centre.

What has changed or is changingfor the better?

• Awareness is growing about the challenges of our income security system.

• Comprehensive research has been undertaken to research new directions.

• A comprehensive array of federal and provincial child benefits have helped many families.

What is hindering more positive change?

• Funding• Policy silos• Political philosophy/ideology• Lack of available data• Need for common understanding• Outdated legislation

What can be done about it? (1)

1. Increase alignment between EI and social assistance programs to better serve the needs of the longer-term unemployed.

2. Allow recipients of social assistance to keep small windfalls and protect some savings to prevent destitution and welfare dependency.

3. Reduce disincentives to work by de-linking housing and drug and dental benefits from social assistance.

4. Fine-tune the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB) to increase its effectiveness in easing the transition from welfare to work.

What can be done about it? (2)

5. Increase the effectiveness of employment standards and regulations to ensure workplace fairness and security.

6. Improve the design and effectiveness of training and employment support programs to help working-age adults at the low end of the labour market.

7. Improve access to high quality, affordable early learning and child care to allow low income parents to work.

8. Reduce specific employment barriers for racialized groups living in poverty.

Selected Reading on Income SecurityBaldwin, Andrea, Stephanie Procyk and John Stapleton. (2011). Income Security: Collective Responses for a

Prosperous Toronto Region (long and short versions). Toronto: CivicAction. www.civicaction.ca/publications

Block, Sheila and Grace-Edward Galabuzi. (2011). Canada’s Colour Coded Labour Market: The gap for racialized workers. Toronto: Wellesley Institute and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/multimedia/colour-coded-labour-market-gap-racialized-workers

Eggleton, Art and Hugh Segal. (2009). In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness. Ottawa: The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Report of the Subcommittee on Cities. < http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/402/citi/rep/rep02dec09-e.pdf>

Hulchanski, David J. (2010). The Three Cities Within Toronto: Income Polarization among Toronto’s Neighbourhoods, 1970 — 2005. Toronto: University of Toronto, Cities Centre.

Laurie, Nathan. (2008). The Cost of Poverty: An Analysis of the Economic Cost of Poverty in Ontario. Toronto: Ontario Association of Foodbanks. http://www.oafb.ca/assets/pdfs/CostofPoverty.pdf

Stapleton, John. (2010). Zero Dollar Linda: A Meditation on Malcolm Gladwell’s “Million Dollar Murray,” the Linda Chamberlain Rule, and the Auditor General of Ontario. Toronto: Metcalf Foundation. < http://www.metcalffoundation.com/downloads/ZeroDollarLinda.pdf>

United Way Toronto. (2011). Vertical Poverty: Poverty by Postal Code 2. Toronto. http://unitedwaytoronto.com/verticalpoverty/downloads/Report-PovertybyPostalCode2-VerticalPoverty-Final.pdf

Wilkinson, Richard and Kate Pickett. (2009). The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always do Better. London: Allen Lane.

Yalnizyan, Armine. (2010). The Rise of Canada’s Richest 1%. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: Growing Gap. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2010/12/Richest%201%20Percent.pdf

Zizys, Tom. (2010). An Economy Out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass. Toronto: Toronto Workforce Innovation Group.