I’ve just written a report for Employment and Social Development Canada on the current recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness in Canada. An overview of the report can be found here.
Continue readingTag: child benefits
The Progressive Economics Forum: Lifting singles out of poverty in canada
I’ve written a report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy about social assistance—specifically, about social assistance for employable single adults without dependants. A ‘top 10’ overview of the report can be found here.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: income support for low-income households in Alberta
Next week, Jason Kenney’s UCP government will table its second budget. With that in mind, I’ve written a blog post titled “Ten things to know about income support for low-income households in Alberta.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Low income is associated with lower food expenditures,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Assessing progress on St. John’s Plan to End Homelessness
I’ve written an assessment of the 2014-2019 St. John’s Community Plan to End Homelessness. The full assessment can be found here. Points raised in the assessment include the following: -Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest unemployment rate of any Canadian province. This pulls people into homelessness, while also making it
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about the 2019-20 Alberta budget
I’ve just written a ‘top 10’ overview of the recent Alberta budget. Points raised in the post include the following: -The budget lays out a four-year strategy of spending cuts, letting population growth and inflation do much of the heavy lifting. -After one accounts for both population growth and inflation,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about affordable housing in Alberta
I’ve just written a ‘top 10’ overview blog post about affordable housing in Alberta. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -On a per capita basis, Alberta has far fewer subsidized housing units than the rest of Canada -Some Alberta cities have much more low-cost rental housing (per
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Book review: Social policy in Canada (second edition)
Oxford University Press has recently released the second edition of Social Policy in Canada, co-authored by the father-daughter duo of Ernie Lightman and Naomi Lightman. I recommend this book as an excellent resource for students of social policy. It will be useful for classroom instruction, while also being a handy
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The introduction and evolution of child benefits in Canada
Allan Moscovitch and I have co-authored a blog post that looks at the history of child benefits in Canada. Points made in the blog post include the following: -Child benefits can reduce both poverty and homelessness. -When child benefits began in Canada after World War II, one major motivating factor
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Foundations for an Alberta Alternative Budget
An Alberta-based volunteer working group, of which I’m a part, recently released a document titled Foundations for an Alberta Alternative Budget (for media coverage, see this Metro article). Working group members include staff from Alberta’s non-profit sector, labour movement and advocacy sector. While our long-term goal is to emulate the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Alberta Alternative Budget 2017
Media Release Foundations for an Alberta Alternative Budget released today (March 14, 2017-Edmonton) Today, a coalition of researchers, economists, and members of civil society released a plan to boost Alberta’s economic growth while reducing income inequality. “For too long Alberta’s public services have been strained from decades of underfunding and
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Poverty Reduction in Alberta
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’m co-author of a blog post titled “Poverty Reduction in Alberta.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The NDP government of Premier Rachel Notley has undertaken important poverty-reduction initiatives since forming a government in 2015. -Alberta (relative
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Federal Role in Poverty Reduction
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’m co-author of a blog post titled “The Federal Role in Poverty Reduction.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development has been tasked to lead the development of a Canada
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: New child benefit impact on child poverty overblown
In September, I expressed my concerns that the new Canada Child Benefit (CCB) may not be responsible for a 40% reduction in child poverty as claimed by the Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Using Statcan’s tax modelling software SPSD/M, I calculated that you’d get a 14% drop
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about the 2016-17 Alberta budget
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I have a blog post titled: “Ten things to know about the 2016-17 Alberta budget.”
The link to the post is here.
The Progressive Economics Forum: Redistribution, Inequality, and Federal Policy: Guest Post by Edgardo Sepulveda
We are pleased to present this rich guest post by a new PEF member, Edgardo Sepulveda. Edgardo has been a consulting economist for more than two decades advising Governments and operators in more than 40 countries on telecommunications policy and regulation matters (www.esepulveda.com). Redistribution, Inequality and the new Federal Tax & Transfer initiatives I want […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Making Real Change Happen
Today’s throne speech was notable for its brevity, but there were certainly a lot of priorities packed into those 1600 words. A small selection: “The Government will, as an immediate priority, deliver a tax cut for the middle class.” This is quite easily my least favourite action promised by the new Liberal government. The plan increases the […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Progressive, pro-family, pro-growth
A good parental leave system makes children more affordable, and improves gender equity in the labour force and at home. In Quebec, parental leave innovations include time reserved solely for the father, higher replacement rates, and flexibility. This has dramatically increased the number of fathers taking parental leaves, which in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Social Assistance in Canada
This week I am attending a conference entitled “Welfare Reform in Canada: Provincial Social Assistance in Comparative Perspective,” organized by Professor Daniel Béland. The focus of the conference is “social assistance,” which typically encompasses both last-resort social assistance (i.e. ‘welfare’) and disability benefits. In Ontario, the former is known as
Continue reading