Women, Poverty and Social Assistance

Two new reports discuss the barriers and disincentives facing people on social assistance.  The Metcalfe Foundation released “Why is it So Tough to Get Ahead? How Our Tangled Social Programs Pathologize the Transition to Self-Reliance”, finding that the primary obstacle to supporting the transition to self-reliance exists in the fact that social assistance programs operate within isolation from one another and are based on a business model. These systems (which vary widely from province to province) encourages non-reporting, discourages work, and perpetuates abject poverty. Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) recent fact confirms the Metcalfe report, and explores women’s experiences of social programs for people with low incomes. The majority of people who rely on social assistance benefits in Canada are mostly likely to be women, children and people with disabilities. They are looked down upon for their reliance on social assistance and yet they do not receive adequate support from the government that will focus on getting them into the paid labour force and off social assistance, such as affordable child care, safe and affordable housing, and access to training and education. CRIAW points out that the federal government requires no basic standards for social programs across provinces, and the main common attribute is in complexity of systems, with many rules that are misunderstood or misapplied by caseworkers.
>more on the Metcalfe report
>more on the CRIAW fact sheet

Linking Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy to Women’s Employment and Training

The Ontario government’s Throne Speech in November 2007 states that: "A new cabinet committee will begin work developing poverty indicators and targets and a focused strategy for making clear-cut progress on reducing child poverty.” The question yet to be asked and answered is: will the committee consider how gender and equity affect experiences of poverty and pathways towards sustainable livelihoods? ACTEW’s research on women and work finds that women are much more likely to live in poverty, have reduced access to EI and have different labour patterns due in large part to shouldering the responsibility for dependent care. Note that while several provinces are pursuing poverty reduction strategies, there is no such approach to date at the national level. >more

Economic Self-Sufficiency Program
Scarborough women's centre (Scarborough)

An intensive and holistic pre-employment program for survivors of abuse, this program helps women develop the interpersonal and economic independence skills needed to gain and maintain employment. Using a multi-pronged approach to service delivery, it is designed around the schedule of single mothers, and provides child care and transportation tickets. Located in the Greater Toronto Area, staff are able to refer participants to a broad range of employment and training opportunities. Most graduates maintain contact, which allows staff to trace its long-term positive effect on women's lives and on the lives of their families.

Unfortunately, like many other women's programs and services, this nine year old success story struggles with a lack of funding. >more

MTCU Update: New Federal Investments and Update on Program Design
Deanna Yerichuk attended the January 18 Employment Ontario Service Delivery Advisory Group meeting. Kevin French, Assistant Deputy Minister of MTCU, is leading negotiations with the government of Canada to sign a Labour Market Agreement (LMA), which would transfer new funding Ontario for labour market training initiatives. The External Service Delivery Reference Group on Program Design – Employment had an intensive planning session in January to determine guiding principles and provide feedback on the proposed employment services delivery model. A revised document will be released at the end of January. >more

Employment Ontario Materials Available Online
MTCU has posted all Service Delivery Advisory Group materials on the Employment Ontario Partners' Gateway web site. These materials offer presentations and documents on key MTCU developments of Employment Ontario, such as Employment Programs Design, Service Delivery Framework and Standards Access Strategies Projects, and other updates and decisions. >more

Struggles Persist for Single Moms: Article
the Toronto Star published an article revisiting three women that had been featured in articles throughout the year. Rita Daly, the article's author, found that while a moment of fame can change some people's lives forever, "in the case of three single mothers raising children in poverty that Toronto Star readers met over the course of the past year or so, life, well, life goes on." Little has changed for the women. >more

Facts

• Approximately 40% of working women, in comparison with less than 30% men, are in part-time, contract, or other non-standard work arrangements. (1)

• The United Nations commented publicly on the high percentage of Canadian women living in poverty, and recognized that the federal government policy changes and funding cuts contributed to the persistence of poverty particularly among Aboriginal women, women with disabilities, women of colour and immigrant women. (2)

• Two-thirds of mothers with young children are employed. (2)

• EI coverage of women workers dropped from 69% in 1990 to 32% in 2004. (3)

•The TD Bank Financial Group reported that social assistance rates have decreased not because of improved conditions but rather because benefit criteria have been made so strict, that some poor people can no longer qualify. (2)

(1) Canadian Women's Labour Patterns Fact Sheet , ACTEW, 2007.

(2) CRIAW fact sheet, 2007 .

(3) Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2007.

Questions

How can different income assistance policies and systems work together to help Ontarians move towards economic self-sufficiency?

How will the Ontario Anti-Poverty Cabinet Committee consider women-specific contexts in addressing poverty in Ontario?

Get Involved

Province-Wide Focus Groups on MTCU Service Delivery Strategy

The Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres will be coordinating a series of provincial focus groups on behalf of MTCU to discuss the Service Delivery Strategy.  ACTEW members will have an opportunity to put their names forward to be selected for a focus group, scheduled for the last half of February. Contact Deanna at deanna@actew.org for more information.

Advancing Referral Processes: Focus Groups

ACTEW, in partnership with the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres, will be conducting a research project to understand the successes, gaps and challenges in agency referral processes.  Stay tuned for focus group dates in March and April.

Northern Ontario Women’s Economic Development Conference

On April 29 and 30, ACTEW is proud to support a two-day conference hosted by PARO. A forum to discuss the experience of women in Northern Ontario, including francophone and indigenous women, and to find innovative solutions to northern economic challenges. >more

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