(SPE4) Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives on Social Policy and Social Equality in Canada

This session is an open call for proposals welcoming papers on social policy and social equality, and the relationship between those two themes. In line with the orientations of the Social Policy and Social Equality research cluster, papers focusing on poverty, social and health inequalities, and social policies aimed at reducing them will be included in this session. We also invite papers unpacking how social and welfare policies aimed at poverty reduction and at fighting inequalities are developed. Tags: Equality and Inequality, Policy

Organizer: Xavier St-Denis, Institut national de la recherche scientifique; Chair: Xavier St-Denis, Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Presentations

Charles Plante, Université Laval

Fifteen years of long-term social assistance entries and exits in Quebec and the impact of the Supplement to the Work Premium (SWP)

During the past two decades, Quebec has taken concerted steps to reduce its number of long-term social assistance recipients. This includes the introduction of its Supplement to the Work Premium (SWP), which subsidizes re-entrants wages to the labour market by as much as $200 a month for twelve months since 2008. Initially, recipients had to have been on social assistance for 36 out of the previous 42 months to qualify for this supplement. In 2018, this threshold was lowered to 24 out of the previous 30 months. We have partnered with the Ministère de lEmploi de la Solidarité sociale (MTESS) to evaluate this intervention. They have provided us with access to fifteen years of longitudinal administrative social assistance records for over 200,000 recipients who received assistance in 12 out of the previous 30 months for the first time and who were not suffering from a disability between January 1st, 2006 and December 31st, 2020. We observe that the number of annual entrants to this group has declined over time, and its composition has changed substantially. The share of young adults (between 18 and 34) has declined by as much as 20 percentage points at the expense of older age groups. The share of people who communicate primarily in French has decreased considerably over time, and so too has the share of people who are Canadian-born. The share of recipients with a university education has decreased. After declining at first, the share of dual-parent and lone-parent families has increased in recent more recent periods. Men have continually been overrepresented, but this share has declined. Together, these findings imply a group of long-term social assistance recipients that was becoming older and more diverse, leading into the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, exit rates in Quebec are low for long-term social assistance recipients but have increased over time. This is an ongoing study, and by the time of our presentation, we will provide provisional estimates of duration dependence and the impact, if any, of the introduction of the SWP program among these groups.

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Non-presenting author: Pierre-Marc Daigneault, Université Laval

Amber Gazso, University of the Fraser Valley; Tracy Smith-Carrier, Royal Roads University; Carrie Smith, Kings Univeristy College, Western University

How Systems Conflict and the Experience of Low Income Amplifies

In the broader scholarship on poverty in Canada, it is well understood that people living in low income and accessing social assistance experience various barriers to ending their benefit receipt, unemployment being one of them. However, little research explores whether and how access to other social services and resources complements receipt of social assistance and potentially improves exit outcomes and recipients’ trajectories. In this paper, we endeavour to address this lacuna. We draw on findings from our qualitative research project that explored individuals’ experiences of being on social assistance (Ontario Works) and following its rules and expectations while simultaneously navigating relationships with the criminal justice system, the addictions and mental health care system, and the child welfare system. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and ecomaps comprise the data both Ontario Works benefit recipients (n=88) and caseworkers (n=13) shared with us in this multi-site project with the cities of Toronto, Hamilton, and London. Our objective in this analysis is precise. We work to unravel the means and patterns of: collision among social assistance use and relationships with other systems; individuals’ agency when caught in a systems conflict; instrumental and expressive support and labour in managing systems and the conflicts between them. We conclude by theorizing pathways out of poverty as thwarted by interwoven systems and the policy implications of our findings.  

Kaitlin Wannamaker, McGill University

Unraveling Universalism: A Multidimensional Approach to Welfare State Analysis

The concept of universalism in welfare states is a topic of significant debate among scholars and policymakers, particularly concerning its role in influencing inequality and poverty reduction. Despite its frequent use, the term ‘universalism’ often lacks a clear, widely accepted definition, leading to divergent interpretations and applications in both policy-making and academic discourse. This paper seeks to demystify the concept of universalism by meticulously mapping out its conceptual and operational terrain, thereby enriching our understanding of its influence on welfare state outcomes. At the heart of the debate on welfare state design are two competing approaches: the targeted allocation of social benefits towards the impoverished versus a universal approach that encompasses all citizens. This binary view, however, oversimplifies a much more intricate reality. Conceptually, universalism can be approached from two distinct perspectives: structural and content-based. Structurally, universalism is perceived either as a point on a spectrum opposite to targeting or as an entirely separate concept. Content-wise, it is either viewed as a policy principle that emphasizes the equitable application of welfare policies or as a policy design distinguished by specific institutional features. This conceptual framework serves as the groundwork for a deeper exploration into the operational aspects of universalism within welfare states. Operationalizing universalism involves the categorization of two distinct clusters of indicators: outcome measures and institutional measures. Outcome measures assess the effectiveness of universalistic policies through the distribution of benefits across different segments of the population. Institutional measures, in contrast, scrutinize the structural elements of welfare states, such as the presence of means testing and the coverage of public services. This bifurcation is helpful for understanding the multifaceted nature of universalism and its varying impacts on welfare states. The research builds on these conceptual and operational distinctions to investigate how different interpretations of universalism affect the design and efficacy of welfare policies. It employs a comparative analysis across a selection of OECD countries, using quantitative methods and data from sources such as the Comparative Welfare State Dataset. This analysis sheds light on the nuances in the relationship between universalism and welfare state outcomes. It highlights how diverse measures of universalism have distinct implications for social spending, social transfers, poverty, and inequality. Additionally, this paper also delves into the practical implications of different universalism measures. It analyzes how policy decisions influenced by these measures can lead to varied outcomes in welfare states’ ability to address social inequalities. This aspect of the research underscores the significance of aligning policy intentions with appropriate measures of universalism, ensuring that the welfare policies formulated are not only theoretically sound but also practically effective in achieving their intended goals. In conclusion, this paper emphasizes the necessity of conceptual precision and the alignment between theoretical intentions and practical measurement in studies of the welfare state. By offering a comprehensive framework for understanding and measuring universalism, it contributes to theoretical debates and practical policymaking. The insights provided by this research aim to contribute to the creation of more generous and robust welfare states, adept at combating poverty and inequality in an increasingly complex and diverse global landscape.

Kendal David, Carleton University; Megan Linton, Carleton University

Paternalistic penny pinching: Examining institutional income support programs for disabled Canadians

Decades of austerity in Canada means that institutionalized people–those living in group homes, long-term care, or any other residential medical institution–are forced to pay for their own basic living needs. Instead of accessing social assistance programs like ODSP or Disability Assistance to help cover these costs–which they might be eligible for if they lived in the community– institutionalized people instead receive personal need, comfort, or care “allowances.” They range from $91 in PEI to $179 in Ontario and $380 in Manitoba. These social assistance schemes for institutionalized persons are almost entirely unexamined in Canadian poverty research. Across Canada, people labelled with intellectual disabilities continue to be unjustly institutionalized. In Ontario alone, over 30,000 adults labelled with intellectual disabilities live in state residential facilities or are on the waitlist for them. Institutionalization necessitates isolation, lack of autonomy, and constant surveillance, which is a depriving experience for disabled people. The deprivation is only furthered by the abject poverty of these institutional social assistance schemes. Monthly allowances pass through bureaucrats, social workers, business owners, and personal support workers before a disabled person living in a group home, long-term care facility, or some other variation of a residential treatment facility hopefully receives them. For eligible residents, immiserating monthly personal needs allowances are typically the only income support they receive, and paltry payments are supposed to be used to pay for everything beyond basic food and shelter. Provincial governments explain these extremely low rates of support provided by institutional allowances by noting within the policies and their directives that food and shelter costs are paid directly to the institutions and as such, residents’ basic needs are supposedly met by the state. However, none of the provincial allowance rates come anywhere close to meeting official poverty lines, even when you take out their food and shelter components. Further, residents are responsible for using their monthly allowances to cover the costs of phone plans, clothes, wireless internet, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, recreation activities, hairdressing, menstrual products, and other essential personal needs. This presentation will discuss the inadequacy of institutional social assistance schemes which trap disabled people in poverty. In this presentation, we present data on: what the provincial programs across Canada actually are, the rates of payment of these programs, and the adequacy of payments compared against official poverty thresholds. The recent federal political interest in addressing disability poverty via the Canada Disability Benefit, and the government’s promise to begin unrolling regulations makes this issue especially timely. We conclude the presentation by reflecting on immediate opportunities for all levels of government to address the paternalistic penny pinching of institutional allowance schemes across the country. 

Alexa Carson, University of Toronto; Izumi Niki, University of Toronto; Pelin Gul, University of Toronto

Defining care moments: unequal rebounding from crises for family senior caregivers

In 2023, over 20% of Canadians performed unpaid care for care-dependent adults, representing a far larger proportion than paid care providers for care-dependent adults (3%) (Statistics Canada 2023). Family caregivers, predominantly women, fill the gaps in formal care systems, often with far too little support from employers, community, or government (Barken, Daly, and Armstrong 2016; Klostermann and Funk 2022; Ulmanen, Lowndes, and Choiniere 2023). This unpaid caregiving has negative impacts on caregiver employment, work-life balance, and mental health (Amin and Ingman 2014; Bianchi and Milkie 2010; Gordon et al. 2012; Lahaie, Earle, and Heymann 2013; Pearlin, Aneshensel, and Leblanc 1997; Statistics Canada 2023). Consequently, unpaid caregiving has far-reaching societal impacts, requiring cross-sectoral policy considerations related to health care and social services, as well as labour and employment (Folbre 2018). Despite this, much research on adult care crises has focused on quality of care, as well as conditions of work for paid care providers (Cranford 2020; Cranford, Hick, and Birdsell Bauer 2018; Lovelock and Martin 2016). There has been less empirical examination of the experiences of family caregivers for seniors. To help remedy this, our research, guided by intersectional care (Cohen et al. 2021; Versey 2017; Zajicek et al. 2006) and feminist care theory (Duffy 2011; England 2005; Folbre 2012), investigates how Canadian families arrange and think about senior care and asks what government can better do to support them. The research draws on in-depth interviews with 57 unpaid caregivers for seniors (who are living at home or in supported living situations such as retirement homes and long-term care) across Canada. Preliminary findings highlight the consequential influence of defining care moments : that is, instances in which the care requirements of seniors shift rapidly. At these crucial points in time, many caregivers describe adverse mental and physical health effects, as well as lost opportunities related to employment, leisure, and self-care. Yet while some caregivers rebound relatively quickly and find a new equilibrium that works for them, others do not, struggling for years in unsustainable care circumstances. These varying responses to defining care moments reveal disparities in access to care support and services based on social (class, gender, race, and ethnicity) and geographic (municipality population size and remoteness) locations. Caregiving inequities were commonly augmented by service access barriers due to Canada’s “messy” patchwork system of senior care, characterized by challenges to finding information about care services and long waitlists, leading to time-consuming and stressful care management responsibilities for family caregivers. Our research uncovers complex dynamics which influence experiences of and decisions on care arrangements, and their consequential impacts on caregivers work-life balance and mental health. It deepens understandings of the current senior care landscape in Canada, and the oft-hidden role of family caregivers, and offers concrete policy solutions to better support Canadian seniors and their unpaid caregivers. Our research will also contribute more broadly to scholarly literature on caregiver work-family conflict, social inequality, and welfare state policy.

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Non-presenting author: Ito Peng, University of Toronto