One Year On:

1

• One Year On
• Leavers, Mixers, Cyclers and Stayers
• Tracking the Experiences of a Panel of Ontario
  Works Recipients

2

• Social Assistance in the New Economy (SANE)
• A multi-year research program composed of 4
  studies
• A longitudinal panel of social assistance
  recipients in Toronto
• A quantitative study of the economic
  circumstances of people leaving social assistance
• Examination of the changing regulatory and legal
  frameworks of social assistance
• A qualitative study of local employment programs
  in the decentralized policy context of Ontario
  Works

3

• Panel study Key changes in composition of panel
• Round two participants
• Older
• Less educated
• More likely to speak English at home
• Had been in receipt of assistance longer

4

• Panel study Key changes in composition of panel
• Age Round one Round two Lost
  from panel
• Under 25 10 9 11
• 25 - 34 23 20
  26
• 35 - 44 41 34 48
• 45 - 54 16 23 9
• 55 10 14 7
• Total 100 100
  100

5

• Panel study Key changes in composition of panel
• Education Round one Round two Lost
  from panel
• High school or less 47 55 39
• Some post-secondary 17 19 15
• Grad. post-secondary 27 19 35
• Higher degree 9 7
  11
• Total 100 100
  100

6

• Panel study Key changes in composition of panel
• Language at home Round one Round two Lost
  from panel
• English 70
  80 61
• Lang. other than English 30 20
  39
• Total 100
  100 100

7

• Panel study Key changes in composition of panel
• Time on assistance Round one Round two Lost
  from panel
• (at round 1)
• Less than four months 13 7
  18
• 4 - 12 months 34 33
  36
• 13 - 24 months 13 14
  11
• 25 - 59 months 18
  19 18
• Five years or more 23 28 18
• Total 100
  100 100

8

• Leavers, Mixers and Cyclers
• Working but Poor
• Little or No Financial Improvement
• Minimum wage jobs with few if any benefits
• Stressful/physically demanding
• Still need for food banks etc

9

• Working but Poor
• Im doing it just to try and survive. Ive never
  worked this hard in my life ... But Ive
• got no choice. Ive got to stay there for now.
  Its sink or swim It wont lead to
• other jobs I feel trapped. I could do better,
  but Im trapped. Its hopelessness
• and I cant get out. If I take a day off to try
  and find something else, theyll fire me
• Im just doing this to stay alive ... Im
  making an effort but I dont know how long
• I can keep it up. Its no better than welfare
  (Keith, 20)
• Im proud of what I do now. But its also hard.
  Before I knew that cheque was
• always going to be there. Now Im more concerned
  about keeping the job. I worry
• more about that Lifes a lot harder since I
  started working ... Even now were
• always short and Im still four grand in the hole
  ... He (the father) could lose his job
• or I could lose my job or something could happen
  at anytime I dont want to
• make it sound too bad, but since I started
  working things have gotten harder If
• he (the father) left I would have to go back on
  welfare again (Jenny, 01).

10

• Leavers, Mixers and Cyclers
• Precarious Work Unstable work and Income
• Jobs short-term/insecure
• Changing hours/pay
• Unpaid hours/bad working conditions
• Problems balancing work and family

11

• Precarious Work
• We worked around 200 km away. Usually I started
  working around 8am. Two or three
• hours was transportation time. We worked until
  7pm and then had a two or three hour
• drive back to the city. We were working seven
  days a week. I had no life. The most I
• earned was about 1000 a month (Adriana, 05).
• I worked part-time at a grocery store. I only
  worked there a month. It was terrible. I
• worked from 930 to 5, but I only got paid from
  10 to 4. I was only making 6.85 when
• it was agreed that Id get paid 7.25. So I quit
  (Angela, 42).
• They knew I wasnt there because the kids were
  sick, but they thought I could make
• alternative arrangements. When I had the
  interview they talked about flexible hours.
• We understand you have kids and, dont worry, we
  know they get sick. They claimed
• to be flexible in the beginning, but when it came
  down to it, it was totally different
• (Sheila, 23).

12

• Leavers, Mixers and Cyclers
• Ontario Works and the Welfare-Work transition
• Lack of support/orientation
• Limited help with transition into work
• Problems transitioning back onto welfare after
  work
• Negative impact of any job is a good job
  philosophy

13

• Ontario Works and the Welfare-Work transition
• Ontario Works pushed me. The worker told me that
  when you come to Canada, youve
• got to start working and making money. It doesnt
  matter what work you do. I did
• that twice. I will never listen to that again
  (Adriana, 05).
• For people in recovery and single moms it doesnt
  help it makes it worse. People with
• physical or mental health issues who cannot work
  for whatever reason should have
• easier access. Maybe they could be given
  different workers, with more tolerance ...
• When you have those gaps on your resume, you want
  to get out there, but doors are
• being shut and theres no help (Alison, 50).
• I wouldnt refuse a job just because its 10 an
  hour, but if its going to make me
• worse off, I cant. So Im not moving forward. Im
  in the same stagnant place. That
• makes me feel like Im not moving forward with my
  recovery. Im three years clean,
• but financially Im still in the same spot
  (Angela, 42).

14

• Stayers
• Barriers to Work
• Limited education
• Sole support parents
• Newcomers/immigrants
• Health
• Trapped unable to work and unable to access ODSP

15

• Stayers
• Living on the Edge
• Frequent use of food banks/fear of going hungry
• Disconnections of hydro/phone etc
• Little/no quality of life (no birthdays/Christmas/
  days out)
• Very stressful/Impact on children
• Marginalized/Isolated

16

• Living on the Edge
• I always had two jobs on the go and used to be so
  outgoing, but being on welfare is
• not a positive experience for anybody. I dont
  think anybody really chooses to be on it.
• Sometimes you just dont have a choice. You dont
  know where else to go. All my
• furniture is donated. I havent bought one piece
  Some people have said, Why cant
• you come out? I just dont want to. They push
  and push. They want you to say you
• cant afford it. Then theyll say, Well come on,
  well take you. Its being treated like a
• second class citizen (Katie,47).
•  
• I was earning 15 an hour in my last job. To go
  from that to 335 a month is tough.
• I pay 125 to housing and that leaves 10 in
  welfare. The 200 child tax goes towards
• food and its gone the next day. I always run
  short of food. I use the food bank and
• Ive got a friend that brings me food every week.
  I go to different peoples houses for
• supper. My situation is tough. There is no
  quality of living at all. Its depressing,
• humiliating. I feel like everybodys pitying me
  (Clare,26).

17

• Stayers
• Survival Strategies
• Meticulous budgeting/Constant planning
• Rely on family/friends to buy groceries, cook
  meals, cash
• Exchange good and services
• Undeclared income from casual work
• Strategies precarious/uncertain but break strict
  rules so criminalized

18

• Survival Strategies
• A friend was buying me groceries for a while.
  Wed go to his house and hed make
• us a huge dinner. The leftovers lasted us three
  days. I couldnt have survived
• without him. Thats how my kids were getting
  their fruit and vegetables. Im meant
• to declare that because its earned income They
  look at it as if Im cheating them,
• but Im just trying the best I can with what Im
  given (Anna, 80)
•  
• Once youre on welfare, its like a trap, and you
  cant make it. When people say they
• make it, I tell them theyre lying. Theyre doing
  something else to get extra income.
• It makes us criminals. You have to do what you
  have to do to feed your kids (Katie,
• 47)
•  

19

• Stayers
• Ontario Works
• Remained critical of climate/strict rules
• Variable program content
• Inappropriate participation requests
• Lack of flexibility/understanding of desperate
  circumstances

20

• Work-First and the Realities of Recipients Lives
• Work-First and Sustainable Jobs
• Work-First and the Hard to Serve
• Work-First and the Role of Mothering
• Genuinely Flexible/Individual Pathways to
  sustainable employment
•  

21

• Further information
• www.socialwork.utoronto.ca/sane/index.html
• Dean Herd (dean.herd_at_utoronto.ca 416-946-8607)
• Andrew Mitchell (andy.mitchell_at_utoronto.ca )