10Dec 2012 by johnastapleton

How do you replace social policy? With ‘decision-based evidence making’[i]

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Social policy, at its simplest and most active, is the articulation of ideas to effect positive change for people based on strong principles and the best available evidence. Social policy is a good thing and is historically a strong suit of governments. Therefore, it is extremely interesting that Canada now has a federal government that appears to wish to get out of social policy. They are achieving this end in five ways: Through staff cuts and attrition in the  government departments like Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) that do social policy; By declaring that large aspects of social policy like poverty reduction are  the responsibility of someone else ( i.e. provinces) By making sure that charities do not conduct social policy that could be construed to have political…
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19Jun 2012 by johnastapleton

Social assistance recipients in Ontario

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I have written a monthly newsletter for years  about social assistance caseloads. I was asked if it is face-bookable or tweet-able. With this post, I am going to try to make that possible. It is an exciting time because social assistance recipiency ( if there is such a word) is at the crossroads. March has traditionally marked the high point in social assistance caseloads. And following the 1980's and 1990's recessions, caseloads had multi-year peaks in March 1983 and March 1994 in Ontario . The file is here: Ontario unemployment and SA rates 1981 to 2008, 2009 monthly to April 2012 (1) Will March 2012 will be the high water mark? There are no safe bets here. But few months have shown a retreat  like April 2012 in all OW categories of singles, couples, and lone…
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01Jun 2012 by johnastapleton

Talking to seniors about working poverty

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I recently co-authored a paper on Working Poverty in the Toronto Region with some colleagues at Statistics Canada. I also  have a PowerPoint presentation that I take on the road. I have presented to Annual General Meetings, think tanks, universities, groups of advocates, municipalities, special government panels, and to the public at large. One of the presentations to the public was at the Gardiner Museum as part of Open Doors Toronto. I tailored my presentation to a public audience. I took out the math and the technical discussion. The audience was polite and appeared interested and appreciative. At the end after about 40 minutes, I asked if there were any questions or discussion. Some polite and easy clarifying questions were asked and answered. Just as I thought we were winding…
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13May 2012 by johnastapleton

Why do we enforce the most stringent ‘adult entry’ rules on the most vulnerable?

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We all know that Canada is an aging society. But how many of us know that the median age in Canada was 26 in 1967 and is now age 42[1]? Most of us are living longer and having smaller families. Yet we don’t seem to stop to think too much about what an older Canada means for the extensions in the stages of our lives. Much has been written about the incredible lengthening of old  age in our society. People who retired at 65 in  1967 typically lived into their mid-seventies. Now they live a decade or more longer. Our working lives used to end at age 65 but mandatory retirement laws have been scrapped and our federal government is postponing the receipt of Old Age Security to age 67.…
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28Apr 2012 by johnastapleton

Two belt tightening families: Which one looks most like government?

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Families, it is said, have to tighten their belts in tough times. Some think that government should do the same. Countries like Canada and the United States, like almost all rich countries, borrow money. In some ways, the lure of being able to raise capital is why they became countries in the first place. Once a land becomes a legal entity, it creates a currency and it is able to invest in its future. Growth begins with new investment. People do the same thing - they borrow to buy a home and to become educated to make the money that they intend to pay back. Once repaid and the family realizes its potential, a family becomes prosperous. It owes little or nothing and uses its resources to loan to others:…
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18Apr 2012 by johnastapleton

Working Poor & Responding to the Ontario Budget

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April 25 marks two important moments. For  everyone who remembers the film Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock and William Shatner ( among others), filmgoers will recall that a contestant was asked  to describe her ideal "date". http://www.hark.com/clips/rktkddnmkl-describe-your-perfect-date She thought long and hard and finally said: "April 25th" She noted that the days were getting longer, days warmer, plants greener among other things etc. Poor Bill Shatner overacted apoplexy with the response. Anyways for those of you who are wondering about your ideal date, a wonderful evening on working poverty and responding to the Ontario Budget is in store. See you there! econimc inequality poster Main Website is:
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15Apr 2012 by johnastapleton

Cut in Half! Another ‘Close Encounter of the ‘30’s kind’

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Back in 2006, I recorded the personal reminiscences of my mother and youngest aunt.   I never tire of reading their recollections of the Great Depression and World War II. A few weeks ago, after releasing a paper I co-authored on the working poor in Toronto, I was asked to depute before the Toronto City Council committee that was dealing with the possibility of cutting the pay of cleaning and janitorial workers ‘in half’ in order to cut costs. This was not long after Electro-Motive, owned by Caterpillar, called on its London, Ont., workers to OK a 50 per cent pay cut before leaving Canada entirely. It got me thinking. I knew there was something about ‘pay being cut in half ‘in the family remembrances. I found it. Here is the…
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04Apr 2012 by johnastapleton

Obscured by self… (by Guest blogger Pat Capponi)

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We are the intractable poor, those who’ve been years- sometimes decades on OW or ODSP, whose world is limited to agencies, drop-ins, food banks, Money Marts, and some of the worst housing Toronto has on offer. Men and women with no future, no hope, broken by the struggle to simply survive, whose lives and deaths cause barely a ripple, no obituaries, no weeping relatives, no sign we were ever here, except for thick files in dusty cabinets, destined for shredders, in order to make room for new files, new clients, who will share the same sad fate. We are the cast-offs, the social irritants, lying on grates through the winter, hanging in back alleyways, servicing Johns, on street corners pleading for change, lined up for hours for a loaf of…
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03Apr 2012 by johnastapleton

Of the 1%, for the 1%, to the 1%

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  Of the 1%, for the 1%, to the 1%? Single People and social assistance In 2012, three years following the greatest recession since the Great Depression, 1.1% of Ontarians (157,000 men and women) received social assistance (Ontario Works) in Ontario (in February 2012).  The number of single people receiving Ontario Works has increased by over 65% (157,000 vs. 95,000) since the year 2000. Social assistance benefit rates Ontario’s single social assistance rate (Ontario Works) was increased to $599 a month in December 2011, with $227 allocated (by regulation) to basic needs. The minimum monthly cost of a nutritional food basket requiring secure, energy efficient, and affordable storage, freezing, refrigeration, and cooking facilities is $270. Ontario’s single social assistance rate was $663 a month in 1993. If adjusted for inflation…
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29Mar 2012 by johnastapleton

Flying into Neverland: The precious and vacuous world of In-flight Magazines

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Flying into Neverland: The precious and vacuous world of In-flight Magazines "Toronto is embracing its gritty history with a new affection, a nostalgia that trumps even Trump and the other glittering downtown gems that thumb their noses at the – recession? What recession?" Toronto the Great From Parkdale to the Park Hyatt, Toronto embraces both its glittery and gritty sides. By Charlene Rooke En Route Magazine September 2010   As airlines try to inject fun into flying again, nine years after 9-11, it is interesting to reflect on what you have to pay for as part of in-flight service in Canada. Meals, drinks, seat selection, frequent flyer points, rebooking missed flights and even the lowly headset have all been reconstructed as extras in the price structure of the modern airline…
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