Ontario Works Act : The Ontario Work Act

Social insurance programs were designed to provide continuing income to citizens over 65 after retirement, health benefits and provide benefits for the unemployed, survivors and disabled. Social insurance programs are non-means tested, work based and incorporate a large number of people while public assistance

The Quebec legislature made substantial amendments to the Social Aid Act, R.S.Q., c. A-16, creating a new scheme in response to Quebec’s alarming and growing unemployment rate. This amendment is the one, which

Poverty rates in Canada have not changed since past 2 decades (Lecture slides). Reasons for hope starts off with Canada's federal and provincial government anti-poverty strategies and programs that help people in poverty and has kept poverty rates from being even higher (Raphael, 2011, pg. 439). Every province offers some types of programs that are receptive, which is better than USA, but not comparable to Nordic countries. Hope is also present that political parties such as NDP, BLOC and Liberal will strengthen Canada's government and lead to many more policies which will reduce poverty (Raphael, 2011, pg.459). In addition, Canada still offers a universal healthcare system accessible to everyone, universal child care and free pharmaceutical for elderly (June 15 Lecture). These programs support and set the foundation for those people who are experiencing extreme poverty and those are low income. Canada also offers the Senate report, House of Commons report and Campaign 2000 report to raise awareness, keep track of rate of poverty and provide recommendations (June 15 Lecture). Health units in Ontario also add on to hope, they provide community health programs, disease prevention strategies and promote healthy lifestyles (June 15 Lecture). These health units are located in many cities such as York

Changes within the welfare system as a result of policy shifts and by new thinking, more generally in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have had many methods, but the one that seemed most important, was that welfare recipients were required to do much more to justify their income support payments than before. The foundation of this new idea is that income support programs should allow individuals to maximise their participation in work. Due to the general shift in welfare administration, the number of activity test requirements an individual in Australia must meet in order to receive unemployment benefits, has expanded significantly since the early 1990s. This complex, overly bureaucratic process means that disadvantaged individuals cannot access the income support payments they require.

Poverty is a serious issue in Canada needs to be addressed promptly. Poverty is not simply about the lack of money an individual has; it is much more than that. The World Bank Organization defines poverty by stating that, “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time”. In Canada, 14.9 percent of Canada’s population has low income as Statistics Canada reports, which is roughly about two million of Canadians in poverty or on the verge of poverty. In addition, according to an UNICEF survey, 13.3 percent of Canadian children live in

Social services provide care for individuals who have suffered some issues. Social care services help protect individuals who have suffered abuse/neglect, encourage independency and help to improve life chances and opportunities. Most social care services aren’t free differently to health care services. Social care is means-tested which means that if you have good income/wealth, you will need to contribute some or pay in full for services. Many people pay for social care privately by arranging support with a provider organisation. Although some people arrange and pay for their social care services independently, people who receive support through local authority will also may still be charged. One social service which may be

This paper will analyze the welfare reform system. Through my analysis I will examine several areas of concern in the welfare reform system. First, as an overview, I will look at the Personal Responsibility & Work Opportunity Act. Second, I will look at the Welfare to Workfare program. We will then examine how welfare recipients with disabilities will be handled under this new reform and finally this paper will examine how the federal government plans on if at all ensuring job retention occurs.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act also shifted the spotlight of welfare from family maintenance through government-supported financial assistance to family economic self-sufficiency through paid employment. This federal welfare reform policy known as TANF encourages employment and personal responsibility by mandating states to provide financial benefits to families on a temporary basis, having recipients participate in a work requirement while receiving aid, and providing incentives for recipients to transition off welfare. The programs name indicated its purpose and the social message to the recipient.

Although Canada is a rich country there are still people who live in poverty, “In 2011, the government classified about 4.7 million men, women and children –– almost 15 percent of the Canadian population –– as poor” (Macionis, Janson, Benoit, & Burkowicz, 2017) but Canada calculates its poverty rate by “one popular measure known as the LICO, a family has an income below the low income cut-off of it spends more than 63 percent of its after-tax income on the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, including corrections for different family sizes and the cost of living in particular communities.”

They hope that the recipients will work towards someday leaving the program. While this is the goal, many recipients will not attempt to find work or the job is consider too low paying for them. Therefore, they continue to be a welfare recipient or are forced out of the program. There have been many changes in the welfare system and how to deal with the poor and less fortune. If you are having a difficult time paying your medical bills, housing and most important food for yourself and your family, you are definitely not alone even in 2014. Temporary assistance for needy families TANF replaced the traditional welfare programs known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children ( AFDC) . The welfare system would be an unlikely model for anyone designing a welfare system 1996. The type and amount of aid available to individuals and dependent children varies from state to state. Failure to comply with work requirements could result in loss of benefits . Current

The Welfare Reform Act was meant to get people off of Welfare and put them to work. There became stipulations for people who receive benefits; they must work a mandatory of 20 hours after two years of assistance. Welfare Reform provided more funding for child care in the effort to get mothers back to work. Families, who have exceeded the five year limit or less depending on state laws, will no longer receive cash assistance. States are given “block grants” in order to provide welfare benefits to the recipients. Welfare Reform also causes states to maintain their spending on Welfare. States can receive bonuses from the Federal Government for the performance of moving Welfare recipients to work and getting them off the system. (PRWORA, n.d.)

According to the National Council of Welfare, The majority of those who rely on social assistance in Canada tend to be women, children and people with disabilities, it is noted that government policy focus on getting them into the paid workforce without adequate supports such as childcare, housing, and money for basic expenses, these policies are considered to be unrealistic and create much misery for the Canadians that are forced to live under these policies (Women, 2007). According to Census 2000, the average annual pre-tax income of women from all sources including government transfers was $22,885 or 62% that of what men receive. In Canada, female lone parent families have by far the lowest average total incomes among families. Although women continue to be among the poorest of the poor in Canada, they make up a disproportionate share of the population with low income 2.4 million women in 2001 compared to 1.9 million men (Work, 2004).

A component of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) is the Welfare-to-Work (WTW) program, an employment and training program created to promote self-sufficiency. Recipients are evaluated to determine their level of participation in the WTW program, whether it is placement into a job, placement in a training or educational program, or both. All WTW clients participate in an orientation where they are evaluated for their skill set based on their education and employment background. A WTW plan is developed to assist the individual with obtaining gainful employment to sustain self-sufficiency. Additionally, participants may receive for supportive services like child care and transportation services (Chan, 2013).

United States Government Welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt thought of this system as an aid for low-income families whose men were off to war, or injured while at war. The welfare system proved to be beneficial early on by giving families temporary aid, just enough to help them accommodate their family’s needs. Fast forward almost 90 years, and it has become apparent that this one once helpful system, has become flawed. Welfare itself and the ideologies it stands on, contains decent fundamentals; furthermore, this system of aid needs only to be reformed to better meet the needs of today’s society.

A 2000 word comparative review of the ways different countries approach welfare, as discussed on the unit.