Income Security: A Roadmap for Change

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HELPING THOSE IN DEEPEST POVERTY OBJECTIVE: Take early and concrete action to increase the level of income support available to people living in deepest poverty. THE NEED FOR URGENT ACTION Recommendation 15: Help those in deepest poverty by immediately increasing the income support available through social assistance as a readily available means for early and absolutely critical progress towards adequacy. Social assistance programs have long been the primary safety net meant to protect the welfare of people who have little to no earnings or other private income, and almost no other income support or in-kind benefits. The support provided through social assistance is insuffcient in itself for almost all who receive it These programs do not prevent people from falling into poverty, and actually contribute to keeping people trapped in the poverty cycle over years and from one generation to the next “The worst thing about being on Ontario Works is being on Ontario Works. Someone else decides when and if I eat. I live in poverty with the constant hyper-vigilance of not knowing if there will be food or shelter month to month – with no end in sight when it doesn’t have to be this way.” ~ Tracy 86 86 Toronto Star article “Ontario’s soaring poverty gap ‘starkest’ for single adults as welfare rates stagnate”, Laurie Monsebraaten, May 9, 2016 Source: https://www thestarcom/news/gta/2016/05/09/ontarios-poverty-gap-soars-as-welfare-ratesstagnatehtml 124 Income Security: A Roadmap for Change
Nowhere have these impacts been felt more strongly than for single people – many of whom are grappling with mental health issues, addictions, violence and abuse, homelessness, and the overall traumatizing effects of entrenched poverty They in particular have been left behind as a result of severe cuts to Ontario Works in the 1990s, which deepened due to mostly below-inflation increases in subsequent years, and other flaws built into social assistance programs. To illustrate their present position, in 1990 the single social assistance rate was 70% of the minimum wage Today, the single rate is 38% of the minimum wage If present rates remained the same as the minimum wage increases to $15 per hour, the level of assistance would fall to 30% It is estimated that single persons receiving Ontario Works and ODSP have experienced a decrease in their spending power of $315 and $302 per month respectively over the last 22 years (accounting for inflation). This has been coupled with decreasing access to other benefits in the broader income security system If income support levels are inadequate, individuals rely upon the support of other persons and means to live. Some of these supports are unhealthy, increasing risk of abuse, exploitation and human traffcking. Immediate action must be taken to bring people out of deepest poverty. The Roadmap recommends early reforms that will transform the structure of social assistance programs and introduce broader and much-needed supports like a portable housing benefit. For some, including those who are homeless or living in boarding houses, this will mean significant increases. However, this is not enough to reach the breadth of people who have been left the furthest behind There remains an urgent need to increase social assistance levels for those in deepest poverty over the first three years of reform – increases beyond the very modest investments of recent years In this section of the Roadmap, we therefore recommend selected rate increases to make more meaningful progress in improving the incomes of those furthest from the Minimum Income Standard (see Achieving Income Adequacy, page 69) Income Security: A Roadmap for Change 125
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INCOME SECURITY A Roadmap for Chang
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ACHIEVING INCOME ADEQUACY69 Setting
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A CLOSING NOTE164 APPENDIX A: Membe
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INCOME SECURITY: FUTURE STATE Essen
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3. Recognizing the Experience of In
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ENGAGING THE WHOLE INCOME SECURITY
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• The federal government enhance
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• Individual choice and well-bein
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• Conduct analyses on current and
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A TRANSFORMED SOCIAL ASSISTANCE STR
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• Initially exempt 25% of Canada
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SELF-GOVERNANCE AND RESPECT FOR FIR
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• First Nations social service pr
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• The capabilities, skills and pr
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SEQUENCING REFORM The Roadmap recom
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We recommend the Province commit to
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2015 also saw a commitment by the f
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MESSAGE FROM THE URBAN INDIGENOUS T
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Community members stressed the impo
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INTRODUCTION PURPOSE The Income Sec
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Income Security Reform in the conte
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2. Essential needs are increasingly
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• Research by the Social Planning
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The Additional Costs of Disability
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• From 2011 to 2014, the incidenc
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• Studies also show that adult-on
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• Indigenous peoples have signifi
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A NOTE ON PREVIOUS REPORTS Over the
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ONTARIO’S INCOME SECURITY SYSTEM
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services 64 More than 68% of socia
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FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL INCOME SECUR
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The federal Canada Child Benefit, t
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ENVISIONING THE FUTURE VISION All i
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GUIDING PRINCIPLES The following pr
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and structural racism to ensure equ
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3. Recognizing the Experience of In
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Critical steps must also be taken t
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areas, including remote areas In se
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DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 The Pr
Page 80 and 81: ONTARIO HOUSING BENEFIT Recommendat
Page 82 and 83: • People must be able to access a
Page 84 and 85: “I’ve been waiting for housing
Page 86 and 87: Children who are being cared for by
Page 88 and 89: When a child is in the care of a Ch
Page 90 and 91: WORKING INCOME TAX BENEFIT Recommen
Page 92 and 93: CORE HEALTH BENEFITS Recommendation
Page 94 and 95: A key strength of Ontario’s curre
Page 96 and 97: TRANSFORMING SOCIAL ASSISTANCE OBJE
Page 98 and 99: DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS 7.1 Develo
Page 100 and 101: People need to feel they have perso
Page 102 and 103: focussing primarily on eligibility
Page 104 and 105: • People are able to access servi
Page 106 and 107: • A simpler social assistance str
Page 108 and 109: 8.6 Regularly situate Ontario Works
Page 110 and 111: We note that ODSP has many positive
Page 112 and 113: as simple and streamlined as possib
Page 114 and 115: 9.4 Provide provincial-level assist
Page 116 and 117: Because moving to an assured income
Page 118 and 119: A TRANSFORMED SOCIAL ASSISTANCE STR
Page 120 and 121: This flat-rate structure would appl
Page 122 and 123: DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS 11.1 Trans
Page 124 and 125: First Nations Delivery Agents of On
Page 126 and 127: INCOME AND ASSETS Recommendation 13
Page 128 and 129: additional costs they may have—wh
Page 132 and 133: Single Non-disabled Person Fall 201
Page 134 and 135: • Setting the Standard Flat Rate
Page 136 and 137: The first Indian Act was passed by
Page 138 and 139: While the recommendations noted abo
Page 140 and 141: DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS 16.1 Based
Page 142 and 143: 16.10 Take steps to ensure that Fir
Page 144 and 145: • Community-based initiatives spe
Page 146 and 147: • Increasing and expediting help
Page 148 and 149: Until further changes to the 1965 A
Page 150 and 151: A CALL ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Th
Page 152 and 153: The Roadmap emphasizes the need for
Page 154 and 155: IMPLEMENTING AND MEASURING CHANGE M
Page 156 and 157: 3. The need to take a system-wide a
Page 158 and 159: SEQUENCING CHANGE: A 10-YEAR ROADMA
Page 160 and 161: YEAR 2 The second year of implement
Page 162 and 163: YEARS 4 TO 10 Years 4 to 10 will ma
Page 164 and 165: THE COST OF INACTION Poverty is int
Page 166 and 167: • Ontario Drug Benefit costs for
Page 168 and 169: • Social Assistance, through: •
Page 170 and 171: A CLOSING NOTE This Roadmap holds t
Page 172 and 173: Violet Boissoneau Linda Cobiness Jo
Page 174 and 175: APPENDIX B: POVERTY REDUCTION STRAT
Page 176 and 177: Canada Pension Plan - Disability (C
Page 178 and 179: Indigenous Friendship Centres: Not-
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Old Age Security (OAS): A pension p
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Rent-Geared-To-Income (RGI): Financ
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Trauma-informed practice: Practices
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Income Security: A Roadmap for Change

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