Social Work in Canada

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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA

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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 2: Income Security and Social Welfare
Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Income Security and Social Welfare Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Income Security and Social Welfare
 The Emergence of Income Security

 Selective and Universal Programs
 Poverty and Inequality
 Canadian Federalism and Social Welfare
 Ideology: Why People Differ on What to Do
 Globalization and Social Welfare

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The Emergence of Income Security
 Income security programs provide monetary

support to individuals or families
 They are often called “transfers” because they
transfer cash and other benefits from government
programs to individuals and families
 There are four types of Income security

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Four types of Income Security:
1. Social Insurance
2. Minimum Income
3. Demogrants
4. Income supplementation

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Social Insurance
 Follows insurance principle of shared risk
 People contribute knowing not everyone will need it
 Generally linked to employment; all workers contribute and are
therefore eligible for benefits
 Employment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation,
Canada/Quebec Pension Plan

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Minimum Income
 Provide monetary assistance to those with no other
source of income
 Geared towards those living in poverty
 Quantity of assistance determined by minimum
amount necessary to meet basic needs
 Social Assistance, also called welfare or workfare

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Demogrants
 Universal flat-rate payments
 Made to individuals or households on the basis of
demographic characteristics (such as # of children or
age)
 Old Age Security, Family Allowance

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Income Supplementation
 Supplement income obtained elsewhere
 Not intended as primary source of income
 May have a broad entitlement
 The National Child Benefit Supplement and the
Guaranteed Income Supplement

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Public Income Security Programs

 Employment Insurance  Disability
 Workers’ Compensation  Survivor and Death Benefits
 Social Assistance or Welfare  Old Age Security
 Canada Child Tax Benefit  Veterans Disability Pension
 Canada/Quebec Pension
Plan  Occupational Benefits

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Employment Insurance (EI)

 Federally administered, dates back to 1941
 Provides level of income replacement to workers
temporarily unemployed
 Sickness, maternity, and parental benefits
 Seasonal industry workers
 Paid for through employer and employee contribution

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Workers’ Compensation
 Provide provincially administered benefits
 Designed to protect workers against income loss due to
workplace injury or disease
 Employer funded
 First Workers’ Compensation program was in Ontario in
1914
 This was the first social insurance program in Canada

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Social Assistance or Welfare

 Designed to provide minimal support to the deserving
poor or those deemed unable to work
 Expanded to include those in need but without
resources
 Residual program of last resort
 Provincial responsibility with some federal funding
 Provinces are free to design their own programs and
set level of benefits

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Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) / National Child

Benefit Supplement (NCBS)
 Provides benefits to families with children
 Delivered through the tax system and direct cash
transfers
 Includes two aspects: the basic CCTB and the NCBS
 CCTB provides a tax credit to those who qualify, based
on an income test, as low- and middle-income families
with children

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Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (C/QPP)

 National contributory and earnings-related pension program
introduced in 1966
 Provides benefit for retirement, death, and long-term
disability
 Pay-as-you-go system
 Any funds not paid out invested into larger reserve fund
 Retirement, Disability, and Survivor’s and Orphan’s Death
Benefits
 Eligibility for the retirement benefit begins at 60 years of age

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Disability
 Severe and prolonged disability resulting in the
inability to participate in the labour force
 Earnings-related and basic flat-rate portion
 Recipients may also qualify for supplemental child
benefits if there are dependants

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Survivor and Death Benefits

 In case of contributor’s death, surviving family
members are eligible
 Benefits are intended to provide support to surviving
spouse and dependent children

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Old Age Security (OAS), Guaranteed Income

Supplement (GIS); Spouse’s Allowance (SPA)
 Between 1952 and 1989, all elderly Canadians received
Old Age Security
 Since 1989, the benefit is only for those who qualify
because of low or modest income
 Two related programs: GIS and SPA, supplement the
OAS for elderly with low incomes

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Veterans Disability Pension

 Available to those who apply to Veterans Affairs
Canada
 Must have a service-related permanent disability
resulting from injury or disease
 Based solely on the extent of the disability and the fact
that it is military-service related

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Occupational Benefits
 Directly tied to one’s workplace
 Includes both retirement plans and other insurance-
based benefits (dental and drug)
 Savings plans with tax-supported provisions (RRSPs)
 Government foregoes the collection of tax

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Selective and Universal Programs

Selective Programs
 Limited to those who are determined to be in need
based on a means or needs test
Universal Programs
 Available to everyone in a category (e.g., seniors)
 All persons are equally eligible regardless of income and
financial situation

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Poverty and Inequality
Poverty brought on by unexpected turn of events:

 loss of employment
 death or disability of a family breadwinner
 family breakup
 increased costs from major illness
 changes in economy
 not enough hours of work
 discrimination and unequal opportunities

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Measuring Poverty:
 Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs)
Measure of the poverty rate in Canada; based on

average household spending on necessities (plus
20%) and varies according to region and family size.

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Measuring Poverty:
 Low Income Measure
Measure of poverty used for international

comparisons based on one-half of the median
income of a country.

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Measuring Poverty:
 Market Basket Measure
Proposed poverty measure based on the cost of

consumption rather than income.

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Poverty in Canada:
 One in six Canadian children lives below the Statistics Canada
LICOs
 The rate of child poverty is the same today as it was in 1989
 In 2008, there were over 700 food banks in Canada
 In an average month, 704,000 people received food
 Over one-third of those being helped were under 18

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Campaign 2000:
Campaign 2000 is a national anti-poverty
coalition named for the federal government’s
1989 pledge to end child poverty by the year
2000.
www.campaign2000.ca

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Canadian Federalism and Social Welfare
 Social Welfare Reforms

 Canada Assistance Plan (CAP)
 Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST)
 Canada Social Transfer (CST)
 Canada Health Transfer (CHT)
 Social Union Framework Agreement (SUFA)

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Ideology: Why People Differ on What to Do
Left ↔ Right
Communism ↔ Fascism
Group ↔ Individual

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Workfare:
 Applicants must work to be eligible for benefits
 People work at specific job to get government cheque
 May require applicants to retrain or pursue self-
employment
 May involve working in a community or social service
agency

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Social Welfare Economics:

Keynesians Monetarists
 John Maynard Keynes  Milton Friedman
 Governments combat  Governments combat
unemployment inflation
 Social spending helps  Social spending stimulates

economic recovery inflation
 Spend money on social  Safeguard economy by
programs to avoid economic controlling money supply
depression

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Globalization and Social Welfare
Economic Globalization
The growing integration and expansion of global markets
for goods, services, and finances.
Global Social Welfare

A concern with justice, social regulation, social provision,
and redistribution between nations.

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Questions for Discussion
Discuss the assumptions behind the names

“welfare” and “workfare.” What is assumed by
requiring recipients to participate in work
placements in order to receive benefits?

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What are the implications of provincial control

over designing programs and setting social
welfare benefit levels?

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How might benefits received through the tax

system (tax credits and exemptions) be
perceived differently from direct cash
payments?

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Discuss reasons why poverty rates in Aboriginal

communities are higher than national rates.
What role does ideology play?

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What are some of the benefits of economic

globalization to social work practice? What are
some of the challenges?

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In what ways does economic globalization

effect Aboriginal populations in Canada?

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Websites
 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

www.policyalternatives.ca
 Caledon Institute of Social Policy

www.caledoninst.org
 Food Banks Canada
www.foodbankscanada.ca


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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA

Chapter 2: Income Security and Social Welfare

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

 The Emergence of Income Security

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

 Income security programs provide monetary

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Four types of Income Security:

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Public Income Security Programs

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Employment Insurance (EI)

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Social Assistance or Welfare

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) / National Child

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (C/QPP)

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Survivor and Death Benefits

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Old Age Security (OAS), Guaranteed Income

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Veterans Disability Pension

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Selective and Universal Programs

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Poverty brought on by unexpected turn of events:

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Measure of the poverty rate in Canada; based on

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Measure of poverty used for international

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Proposed poverty measure based on the cost of

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

 Social Welfare Reforms

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Social Welfare Economics:

 Social spending helps  Social spending stimulates

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Global Social Welfare

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Discuss the assumptions behind the names

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

What are the implications of provincial control

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

How might benefits received through the tax

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada

Discuss reasons why poverty rates in Aboriginal

Chapter 2: Social Work In Canada