25 in 5 Hamilton

Sacrificing financial future to receive welfare

Posted on March 22 2010 under Poverty in the Media

Sacrificing financial future to receive welfare
POVERTY: Provincial group calls for higher social assistance benefits

Ellwood Shreve
The Chatham Daily News
March 17, 2010

Being a single parent living on social assistance is tough.

Being in this position while caring for an adult child with a disability along with a host of other medical problems takes the difficulty to another level.

This is a reality Jill-- who asked her last name not be used -- faces daily while caring for her adult son, Michael, whose challenges include Down Syndrome, dementia and diabetes.

Relying on Ontario Works (OW) for financial support was the last resort for the 58-year-old woman who left behind a successful and well-paying career in the social agency sector to care for Michael.

Her previous jobs included running the Chatham-Kent branches of the Red Cross and Canadian Diabetes Association. In 2001, she moved to Toronto for another job opportunity and while there she was headhunted twice for better paying jobs.

During this time Michael, 30, was living independently in an apartment, thanks to supports from Community Living Chatham-Kent.

In 2006, he started showing signs of dementia and could no longer live on his own. So Jill made the decision to leave her job to care for him.

"Really, the only option was for me to come back to Chatham, because it's so much cheaper to live," she said.

Initially, she made ends meet using her savings, including spending her RRSPs. When this was gone, Jill finally had to turn to OW -- where some of her former colleagues still work -- for financial survival.

"That was a very difficult decision," she said. "It's not the way I saw my life progressing."

Jill already knew bad things happen to good people, but she now lives it.

"I always admired people who could manage to get by on social assistance," she said. "Now, I realize how difficult it is.

"It could be anybody," Jill added. "It could be your next door neighbour and you don't know it."

Surviving on the $585 a month, plus $100 for volunteering, she receives from OW and the just over $1,000 Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) that helps cover her son's expenses, has been a major adjustment for Jill.

Her career provided several perks, including an expense account and flying across North America to attend conferences and seminars.

Today, she only drives her compact car if she has to, because of the high cost of gas, opting to walk if she can manage it. She also doesn't eat at restaurants or buy those little extras.

"We don't spend money on unnecessary things," Jill said.

She has become an advocate for people surviving on social assistance. She sits on the local Prosperity Roundtable, designed to address poverty issues in the community.

Ironically, Jill said she used to sit on the other side of the table and now, "I can speak to living this experience."

She would like to see Canada adopt a similar support system as many European countries and Australia, where caregivers receive financial support to take care of a disabled family member.

On Monday, Chatham-Kent will be the site of one of several hearings being held by the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC) over the next two months, to measure the social effects of current Ontario government policies and actions towards people living in poverty.

Brice Balmer, ISARC director, said the group formed in 1986 when it was asked by the Ontario Liberal government of the day to critique the "Transitions Report" which was a review of the social assistance program.

He said ISARC is working with the current provincial government on another welfare system review.

"We're saying that some of the issues are the asset levels, the amount of social assistance and how do you get off of social assistance?" he said.

Balmer said the welfare system has seen some improvements over the years, but it is not where it should be to reduce poverty.

Looking back to the original welfare review by ISARC, Balmer said the Liberal government didn't go too far to implement changes recommended in the Transitions Report.

When the NDP swept to power in 1990, he said ISARC "thought they were going to just go at it whole-hog" so the organization backed off . Although impacted by the recession of the early 1990s, he said the NDP did increase social assistance by more than the cost of living.

After the Mike Harris government came to power in 1995, Balmer said welfare benefits were cut by 21.6 per cent for families and single people.

While the Harris government was in power, neither social assistance nor minimum wage was increased, he added.

By the time the Harris government lost power, Balmer said families and single recipients of welfare were receiving benefits 40-to 45-per-cent below the cost of living from where they were in 1995.

Although minimum wage will soon be increasing to $10.25 per hour, Balmer said, "we're still 75 cents per hour lower than where we would have been if minimum wage would have come up with cost of living (increases)."

When asked what a fair social services benefit should be, Balmer said: "Obviously, a fair number would be a lot higher."

He said ISARC recommends taking the cost of having a nutritious food basket -- which is calculated by area health units annually -- the average cost of housing -- calculated by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation -- and adding in about $100 a month for other expenses, to determine a fair social assistance benefit.

Valerie Colasanti, director of Ontario Works in Chatham-Kent, said it would be nice to see changes made that would allow OW recipients to keep more of their assets.

Under current provincial rules, a couple receiving assistance can only keep $1,010 in assets, such as RRSPs, which is equal to their monthly benefit, she said. A single person can only keep $585, also equal to their monthly benefit on OW, she added.

Currently, the rules require people to use their RRSPs before they can collect welfare, Colasanti said.

However, she said there are some homeowners collecting OW, adding that number is increasing.

Balmer said people shouldn't have to give up most of their assets before they get welfare.

"You're making people poor for the rest of their lives . . . which hurts everybody in the economy, not just those people," he said.

Even the one perk of weekend respite care for Michael so Jill can rest and recharge has been reduced. She said demand for the service is growing, so her opportunities for this break are fewer.

Jill admits there are many frustrations with this situation, but she noted, "I'd do it again in a heartbeat . . . It's a mother thing.

"We're on a journey," she added. "I couldn't imagine Michael on the journey alone."

This is the second story in a series on the challenges faced by local residents receiving Ontario Works benefits.

eshreve@chathamdailynews.ca

- - -

Living on Ontario Works

Living on Ontario Works benefits only provides for the most basic of necessities, according to statistics provided by the Chatham-Kent OW department.

* The maximum monthly benefit for a single person on OW is $585, which includes $221 for basic needs such as food and clothing, and $364 for shelter.

* A couple receives a monthly payment of $1,010, including $438 for basic needs and $572 for shelter.

* A sole support parent with two children under 18 receives a maximum of $961 a month, covering $341 for basic needs and $620 for shelter.

Presently, there are 3,424 OW caseloads in Chatham-Kent.

This represents 3,848 adults and 63 dependent adults.

There are also 2,555 children whose families receive OW benefits, including 1,376 children 0-6 years old; 728 children age seven to 12 years old and 451 children 13-17 years old. Of the 5,108 people who applied for OW from March 2009 to the end of January, the majority -- 1,951 -- were unable to find a job.

Another 707 people were the working poor, earning less than they needed for financial survival.

More than 600 people either had their Employment Insurance Benefit (EIB) run out or they were laid off waiting for their EIB claim to begin. Another 169 people were laid off but not eligible for EIB.

A total of 222 people had temporary ill health and another 191 had permanent ill health.

There were 171 applicants under 18.

People in an emergency/crisis situation accounted for 410 applications and those needing help paying rent or utility bills accounted for 319 applications.

The other applications fell under separated with or without dependents (138), temporary care assistance (83) and other (121), which included waiting for first pay, quit or fired and financially dependent on parent.

 

POVERTY IN THE MEDIA