25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction

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From:

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Monday, August 24, 2009 7:08 AMAct now for change.

"25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction"

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25 in 5 Networ k for Poverty Reduction Act now for change.

1. Quote of the Week: Federal Government Can't Afford to Waste Another Day2. Ontario Works, my eye...3. Broken Welfare System Punishes Province's Poor

Quote of the w eek

Ontario Works, my eye Because we accept poverty as a fact of l ife, just as we accept a growing disparity in thedistribution of income, we countenance wholly inadequate levels of welfare benefits that push people far below the povertylevels of the working poor. Until we get serious about tackling overall poverty in a meaningful way, the welfare system willsimply not be fixed. However unjustified, our welfare system is but an extension of our acceptance of deep and widespreadpoverty.

Who said it? Nate Laurie, in an editorial in the Toronto Star, Wednesday August 19, 2009.

Ontario W orks, m y eye.. .

In a powerful editorial in the Toronto Star last week, economist Nate Laurie lays out the fundamental problem with thesocial assistance system in Ontario it just doesnt work.

Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program are holdovers from the punitive Mike Harris days. And thecurrent economic recession demonstrates just how urgently these programs need reform.

As part of its Poverty Reduction Strategy, the provincial government pledged to undertake a Social Assistance Review.Eight months have passed since that commitment, and there is still no indication of when the Review will happen, who willbe involved, or what the Review will look like.

25 in 5 encourages you to read the editorial, which is reprinted below and to share it with your local MPP. Take theopportunity while your MPP is still in your constituency over the summer to email, call, or set up a meeting. Show your MPPthe Nate Laurie editorial. And demand the government meet its commitment to a Social Assistance Review.

More information is available at www.sareview.ca.

And stay tuned as 25 in 5 ramps up the pressure on the government to hold a bold Review, and to make the changes thatare necessary.

Broken we lfare system punishes pro vince's poor Ontario doesn't wor k for the rising tide of unem ployed people who don't qualifyfor EIAug 19, 2009Nate Laurie

Ontario Works, the new name that former Ontario

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premier Mike Harris gave to social assistance in 1997, is one of the cruelest ironies left over from his assault on theprovince's most vulnerable residents.

People who can't find work because there aren't any available jobs are called the unemployed. And as the accompanyingchart shows, their numbers have exploded in this devastating recession. As of June, the number of unemployed is up 34per cent from just seven months earlier. Ontario isn't working for them.

But some of the newly unemployed have savings to fall back on for a while at least. Some have a working spouse whocan keep the family afloat while his or her partner searches for another job. Some qualify for employment insurance to tidethem over while they look for new employment.

But for many people, being without a job in a job market shut down by recession means they have no source of money tofeed their families, to pay the rent, to f inance their search for a new job. So they are forced to turn to Ontario Works.

As the chart demonstrates, their numbers move in lock step with unemployment in short they are ending up on welfarethrough no fault of their own.

For roughly every three Ontarians who have lost their jobs to recession, one has been forced to rely on a broken welfaresystem because Ontario isn't working. Ontario Works, my eye.

The chart also shatters the myth that people opt for welfare because of moral laxity.

It should hardly be surprising that when market forces fail those with superior skills, it also lets down those with the weakestskills, the minimum wage workers who have the least secure foothold in the labour market.

Because they tend to be poor to start with, the welfare system says, in effect, that they should be even poorer when theyare deprived of work: the level of social assistance they receive leaves them far below the poverty line.

And therein lies the real problem.

Because we accept poverty as a fact of life, just as we accept a growing disparity in the distribution of income, wecountenance wholly inadequate levels of welfare benefits that push people far below the poverty levels of the working poor.

Until we get serious about tackling overall poverty in a meaningful way, the welfare system will simply not be fixed.However unjustified, our welfare system is but an extension of our acceptance of deep and widespread poverty. Ontario

works, but mainly for those with sufficiently high incomes.

These attitudes lead to some very curious policy decisions. For example, how is it that a province that spends billions ofdollars in aid to the auto industry in order to protect a dwindling number of high-paying automotive jobs gives so littleassistance to those most vulnerable to the same market forces which decimated the auto sector?

Why do we deny employment insurance to the very people who probably need it most?

Why do we offer far better retraining to laid-off auto workers than to those with the poorest marketable skills?

The biggest moral problem of a more generous welfare system lies not with who are forced to live on social assistance, butwith a society that chooses to ignore the growing and alarming poverty in its midst.

Ontarians claim to be mystified by the fiercely outspoken opponents of American health-care reform who worry that theirhealth benefits will suffer if health insurance is made available to those the 50 million Americans who have no medical

coverage. And yet, we seem to apply exactly the same logic when it comes to fighting the insidious poverty here at home.

No Mike, Ontario doesn't work.

Nate Laurie is an economist and consultant. He can be reached at [email protected].

http://www.thestar.com/article/682686

About the 25 in 5 eBu lletinsThe 25 in 5 Network is steered by a coalition of Ontario organizations including Campaign 2000, the Income Security


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Advocacy Centre, the Social Planning Network of Ontario the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition, The Colour ofPoverty Project, the Ontario Coalition for Social Justice, Voices From the Street, among others.

This is a bulletin from 25 in 5 to its contact list of supporters and interested parties across the province. The Bulletin isintended to keep you up to date on the implementation of a poverty reduction plan for Ontario and to let you know how you,your organizations and networks can help make it happen.

For more information visit www.25in5.ca

If you no longer wish to receive the 25 in 5 eBulletin, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the following link:Unsubscribe

25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reductionc/o Social Planning Toronto2 Carlton St., Suite 1001Toronto, ON M5B 1J3Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.


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