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An Untold Story: The Characteristics of Welfare Use in British Columbia

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  • Garry F. Barrett
  • Michael I. Cragg

Abstract

The dynamics of welfare participation are analyzed using a unique longitudinal data set derived from provincial administrative records over the period 1980-92. The principal findings are that the majority of welfare spells are experienced by single men and women without children and that, while most welfare spells are short, there is a high incidence of recidivism. Although continuous, long-term use and dependence on welfare is not characteristic of most recipients' experiences, the program does not provide an effective route to financial independence, since most users periodically return to the program.

Suggested Citation

  • Garry F. Barrett & Michael I. Cragg, 1998. "An Untold Story: The Characteristics of Welfare Use in British Columbia," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 165-188, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:31:y:1998:i:1:p:165-188
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Berg, Nathan & Gabel, Todd, 2010. "New Reform Strategies and Welfare Participation in Canada," MPRA Paper 26591, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Bruce Bradbury & Anna Zhu, 2018. "Welfare Entry and Exit after Marital Separation among Australian Mothers," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 94(307), pages 405-423, December.
    3. Lise, Jeremy & Seitz, Shannon & Smith, Jeffrey A., 2003. "Equilibrium Policy Experiments and the Evaluation of Social Programs," IZA Discussion Papers 758, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Coelli, Michael B. & Green, David A. & Warburton, William P., 2007. "Breaking the cycle? The effect of education on welfare receipt among children of welfare recipients," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(7-8), pages 1369-1398, August.
    5. Lemieux, Thomas & Milligan, Kevin, 2008. "Incentive effects of social assistance: A regression discontinuity approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 807-828, February.
    6. Ronald D. Kneebone & Katherine G. White, 2009. "Fiscal Retrenchment and Social Assistance in Canada," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 35(1), pages 21-40, March.
    7. Nezih Guner & John Knowles, 2009. "Why is the rate of single-parenthood lower in Canada than in the U.S.? A dynamic equilibrium analysis of welfare policies," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(1), pages 56-89, February.
    8. Herwig Immervoll & Stephen P. Jenkins & Sebastian Königs, 2015. "Are Recipients of Social Assistance 'Benefit Dependent'?: Concepts, Measurement and Results for Selected Countries," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 162, OECD Publishing.
    9. Centre for the Study of Living Standards, 2002. "The Impact of the National Child Benefit Supplement on the Low Income Status of Canadian Families with Children: The SPSD/M Results," CSLS Research Reports 02cb, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    10. Fortin, Bernard & Lacroix, Guy & Drolet, Simon, 2004. "Welfare benefits and the duration of welfare spells: evidence from a natural experiment in Canada," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1495-1520, July.
    11. Stephen Whelan, 2010. "The Interaction between Income Support Programs," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(4), pages 407-440, December.
    12. Louis N. Christofides, 2000. "Social assistance and labour supply," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(3), pages 715-741, August.
    13. Jennifer Stewart & Martin D. Dooley, 1999. "The Duration of Spells on Welfare and Off Welfare Among Lone Mothers in Ontario," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 25(s1), pages 47-72, November.
    14. Jason Adams & Ken Chow & David Rose, 2018. "Assessing Active Labour-Market Programs: How Effective is Ontario Works?," e-briefs 285, C.D. Howe Institute.
    15. Vroman, Wayne, 2002. "Unemployment insurance and unemployment assistance : a comparison," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 24084, The World Bank.
    16. Habibov, Nazim N. & Fan, Lida, 2010. "Comparing and contrasting poverty reduction performance of social welfare programs across jurisdictions in Canada using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA): An exploratory study of the era of devolution," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 457-467, November.
    17. Stephen Whelan, 2010. "The take-up of means-tested income support," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 847-875, December.
    18. Nathan Berg & Todd Gabel, 2015. "Did Canadian welfare reform work? The effects of new reform strategies on social assistance participation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 494-528, May.
    19. Irvine, Ian & Finnie, Ross & Sceviour, Roger, 2004. "La dynamique de l'aide sociale au Canada : le role des attributs individuels et des variables economiques et politiques," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2004231f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    20. Irvine, Ian & Finnie, Ross & Sceviour, Roger, 2004. "Welfare Dynamics in Canada: The Role of Individual Attributes and Economic-policy Variables," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2004231e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    21. Ayala, Luis & Rodriguez, Magdalena, 2007. "Barriers to employment and welfare dynamics: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 237-257.
    22. Chan, Winnie & Frenette, Marc & Irvine, Ian & Finnie, Ross & Sceviour, Roger, 2005. "Academic Outcomes of Public and Private High School Students: What Lies Behind the Differences? [Social Assistance Use in Canada: National and Provincial Trends in Incidence, Entry and Exit]," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2005245e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    23. Sebastian Königs, 2015. "Micro-level dynamics of social assistance receipt. Evidence from 4 European countries," Discussion Papers 797, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    24. Barrett, Garry F., 2000. "The effect of educational attainment on welfare dependence: Evidence from Canada," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 209-232, August.
    25. Green, David A. & Warburton, William P., 2004. "Tightening a welfare system: the effects of benefit denial on future welfare receipt," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1471-1493, July.

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