Welfare Ideologies and Theories of Federalism

This paper examines from a theoretical perspective how each of three major ideological orientations towards the welfare state (structural left; social democracy; new/far right) might incorporate an intermediate level of interest between a central and local governments—namely, a province. While the analysis is most straightforward at either end of the spectrum, it is complex for the middle grouping. The paper observes one commonality across all points on the ideological spectrum: there is an increasing loss of faith and disillusionment everywhere with big government, with a resulting focus on more local neighbourhoods and communities (which may or may not include provinces). A brief case example, dealing with the development of legal aid in Canada, is presented for illustrative purposes. The paper ultimately suggests caution: in a world of monetarist economic policies, a central government must always retain pre-eminent interest.     

Searching for Local Solutions: Making Welfare Policy on the Ground in Ontario

Over recent decades welfare dependency has played a powerful role in defining the welfare “problem” and in passing appropriate “solutions.” One result has been the proliferation of short-term, low-cost employment programs and training programs that have emerged as critical sites for challenging and reforming the attitudes and behaviors of welfare recipients. By exploring work-readiness programs in four communities in Ontario, Canada, we provide insight into how these programs relate to the lived realities of those compelled to attend them. The research shows how dependency discourse informs program rules and content, raising expectations about both the benefits and the immediacy of work. This focus risks individualizing blame and ignoring the structural realities of labor markets and the systemic forces that create poverty and unemployment. Although the particular empirical focus is on Ontario, the approaches used and their outcomes resonate with strategies that are evident wherever neoliberalism has made its mark.     

Rituals of Degradation: Administration as Policy in the Ontario Works Programme

After the election of a neo‐liberal provincial government in 1995, Ontario was at the forefront of work‐based welfare reform in Canada. Many of the sweeping reforms carried out under the banner of the “Common Sense Revolution” received widespread coverage: for example, reductions in welfare rates, the introduction of the Ontario Works programme, the adoption of a zero‐tolerance policy for so‐called welfare fraud, and changes to the rules relating to common‐law spousal relationships. However, much less attention has focused upon significant changes to the ways welfare is delivered. This paper critically interrogates a number of key changes to the Service Delivery Model in Ontario. After the passage of federal legislation in 1995, national entitlements to welfare have been terminated, replaced with local responsibility; this decentralization is changing not only the hierarchy of the regulation of poor people, but also the form and function of provision. In particular, there is evidence of the reinvention of administration towards the micro‐regulation of job search and personal behaviour and the deterrence of welfare receipt as applicants and recipients are bureaucratically disentitled. Although administrative practices have historically acted as a secondary barrier to welfare receipt, the paper suggests that the current incarnation of work‐enforcing reforms could be especially significant as the worlds of welfare and work continue to change.     

Race,Language, or Length of Residency? Explaining Unequal Uptake of Government Pensions in Canada

Canada’s old age security (OAS), a flat-benefit public pension, is internationally lauded as an accessible and effective safety net for seniors. This paper explores discrepancies in OAS uptake using Canadian Census data from 1996 to 2011. Our findings demonstrate disparities in OAS uptake based on immigration status, language proficiency, and visible minority status, disputing claims of “universal” OAS provision. Multivariate analyses confirm a strong “immigrant effect,” with being in Canada for 20 years or less leading to lower rates of OAS utilization. They also confirm that those not proficient in Canada’s official languages are less likely to receive OAS benefits. However, the influence of racialized minority status is found to be spurious; after controlling for immigration status and official language proficiency, many racialized minority senior groups have higher odds of receiving OAS than White Canadians. We conclude with a brief discussion of the tradeoffs involved in considering a potential removal of OAS eligibility barriers for immigrants in Canada.     

Welfare to What? After Workfare in Toronto

An employment survey among people in Toronto who left Ontario Works — a classic "work-first" regime — shows clear secondary labour market status. Most interventions typical of work-first programmes did not have a positive effect on job quality: contrary to the "stepping stones" theory that poor initial jobs lead to better jobs, those who changed jobs after leaving assistance experienced poorer job quality. A shift in orientation to "sustainable employment" is required to address the employment needs of those on social assistance. Policy must also address the fact that the social assistance caseload includes a size able group that face significant barriers to employment other than education or skills.     

Social assistance in a shrinking Canadian welfare state

Social assistance, variously known as "welfare" or "the dole", stands at the very base of the modern welfare state and must remain when all other societal, community and family supports have vanished. This paper examines social assistance in Canada, primarily through the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP), the key legislation operative in the area of divided jurisdiction between the central and provincial governments. It considers how CAP has fared in the midst of a substantial weakening of the country's total social support system over the past 15 years, attempts to explain the programme's relatively protected position, and speculates briefly on the future of social assistance.     

Sorting or Shaping? The Gendered Economic Outcomes of Immigration Policy in Canada

Using a growth model analysis of Canada's Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC), we establish a significant relationship between application status — i.e., the distinction in immigration policy between primary and secondary migrants — and individual wages. This relationship is associated with an earnings disadvantage for secondary migrants, who are disproportionately female. The disadvantage persists over time, even when individual human capital and personal characteristics, household context, and pre‐existing differences in the relative employability of spouses are taken into account. We outline some possible explanations for this effect, as well as implications for immigration policy makers.     

Asymptotic Normality of Kernel-Type Deconvolution Estimators

Abstract.  We derive asymptotic normality of kernel-type deconvolution estimators of the density, the distribution function at a fixed point, and of the probability of an interval. We consider so-called super smooth deconvolution problems where the characteristic function of the known distribution decreases exponentially, but faster than that of the Cauchy distribution. It turns out that the limit behaviour of the pointwise estimators of the density and distribution function is relatively straightforward, while the asymptotic behaviour of the estimator of the probability of an interval depends in a complicated way on the sequence of bandwidths.     

Continuity in social policy behaviours: the case of voluntary blood donorship

Using voluntary blood donation as a case example, the study on which this article is based explored not only the extent, or breadth, of community involvement in social policy behaviours, but also the continuity, or depth, of this commitment. Demographic and motivational data were collected through a postal questionnaire returned by 1,784 persons who had voluntary donated blood at least once in metropolitan Toronto between 1974 and 1978. An empirical distinction was also drawn between the 'active' and the 'lapsed' donor. The study found that while certain sectors of society were probably disproportionately represented among those who close to undertake voluntary social behaviours, the continuity of these actions could not be statistically associated with demographic or socio-economic variables. However, it did find that donors initially motivated by 'external' considerations such as convenience of location were more likely to lapse, while those for whom moral considerations and a sense of community were most important were more likely to continue as active donors. The general conclusion suggests that manipulating the context may be useful to broaden the initial participatory base in voluntary actions, but to produce continuity in this involvement the challenge must be phrased in moral language.