Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Why Is It So Tough to Get Ahead: Report
A ground-breaking new report analyzes the disincentives to achieving greater self-reliance within Ontario's welfare, housing and social support system. Metcalf Innovation Fellow John Stapleton launched a new report in December on behalf of the Metcalf Foundation called: Why is it so Tough to Get Ahead? How Our Tangled Social Programs Pathologize the Transition to Self-Reliance. The report finds 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. This system encourages non-reporting, discourages work, and perpetuates abject poverty. A powerful example of entangled programs and policies is the differing definitions that are associated with who qualifies as a child, an adult, and a resident within various programs.
The study finds that working-age social assistance recipients live with disincentives to achieving self-reliance based on the fact that the more they earn, the more they lose in benefits. Stapleton identifies deterrents from achieving self-reliance which include the impact of reduced benefits and increased taxes and premiums on every dollar earned while trying to transition off of social assistance. He notes that the “Marginal Effective Tax Rate” is highest among poor people who receive more than one social service. While transitioning from social services to self-reliance, recipients stand to loose up to 100% of their social assistance, including dental and medical benefits, subsidized housing, clothing benefits, and child care subsidies.
The report outlines a series of recommendations for policy solutions that can be taken right away to eliminate some of the barriers thrown up by multiple subsidies and program policies. The ultimate goal for this report is to call attention to the need for a new governance model – one that enables governments and their agencies to forge policies and procedures in a coordinated way so that the transition to self-reliance is a healthy, supported process for people.
Why is it so Tough to Get Ahead? can be downloaded from the Metcalfe web site at http://www.metcalffoundation.com/
The study finds that working-age social assistance recipients live with disincentives to achieving self-reliance based on the fact that the more they earn, the more they lose in benefits. Stapleton identifies deterrents from achieving self-reliance which include the impact of reduced benefits and increased taxes and premiums on every dollar earned while trying to transition off of social assistance. He notes that the “Marginal Effective Tax Rate” is highest among poor people who receive more than one social service. While transitioning from social services to self-reliance, recipients stand to loose up to 100% of their social assistance, including dental and medical benefits, subsidized housing, clothing benefits, and child care subsidies.
The report outlines a series of recommendations for policy solutions that can be taken right away to eliminate some of the barriers thrown up by multiple subsidies and program policies. The ultimate goal for this report is to call attention to the need for a new governance model – one that enables governments and their agencies to forge policies and procedures in a coordinated way so that the transition to self-reliance is a healthy, supported process for people.
Why is it so Tough to Get Ahead? can be downloaded from the Metcalfe web site at http://www.metcalffoundation.com/
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
