Data Needed for Income Support Transition Planning: Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support
June 8, 2020 – Better data is required to make informed decisions about an income support transition model, says the C.D. Howe Institute’s Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support.
At their recent meeting, working group members discussed options for providing continued income support to Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) recipients who, after exhausting their maximum eligibility period, may remain unemployed and without access to Employment Insurance (EI). The group also explored a solution for getting real-time pay information to tackle the administrative challenge of using income-tested support programs, and discussed the potential impact of working from home on young employees and the gender wage…
Mike Veall – Freezing Ei Premiums
From: Mike Veall To: Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance Date: June 5, 2020 Re: Freezing EI premiums The federal government has, in your words, “no plan to raise taxes.” This should extend to Employment Insurance (EI) premium increases as well. When the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) are […] Lifting Lives: The Problems with Ontario’s Social Assistance Programs and How to Reform Them
Ontario should streamline path off welfare with more carrot, less stick Ontario should trim “punitive” welfare clawbacks and hike earnings exemptions for a more effective welfare system, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. Authors Parisa Mahboubi and Mariam Ragab provide recommendations that would reduce the cost of taking on work to social […] Green, Simard-duplain, Siu – A Covid Assessment Tool To Guide The Opening And Closing Of Sectors
From: David A. Green, Gaëlle Simard-Duplain, and Henry E. Siu To: Policymakers across Canada Date: June 2, 2020 Re: A COVID Assessment Tool to Guide the Opening and Closing of Sectors Since early May, the number of new Canadian COVID cases and – importantly – the number of COVID-related deaths, is on a downward trajectory. Now, public attention […] Staggered Re-opening Should Inform Tailored Income Supports: Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support
May 26, 2020 – With re-opening strategies differing across the country, regional and industry variations need to be considered to create better-tailored income supports, says the C.D. Howe Institute’s Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support.
At their recent meeting, working group members discussed the need to apply a risk management lens to the re-opening of the economy and the need to shift away from a national one-size-fits-all income support plan. The group also considered policy options for modifying the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) while maintaining support for families and low-wage earners, and explored longer-term income support plans.
The group recommends:
A more targeted…No Easy Answers: Insights into Community Well-being among First Nations
Employment Key to Improving First Nations’ Community Well-Being Increased employment is crucial to improving the well-being of First Nations communities, and should be a high priority in the Prairie provinces which have the lowest employment rates and lowest per capita regional incomes across Canada. Author John Richards looks at data from Indigenous Services Canada’s Community Well-Being […] Schirle, Milligan, Skuterud – What April’s Jobs Data Shows For The Future
From: Tammy Schirle, Kevin Milligan and Mikal Skuterud To: Canadians Concerned about the Labour Market Date: May 13, 2020 Re: What April’s Jobs Data Shows for the Future The Canadian workforce tumbled even further in April with a speed never seen before in the Canadian economy. The Labour Force Survey revealed three million people have lost their jobs since […] Extending CEWS Smart Move, More to be Done: Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support
May 11, 2020 – Better utilization of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) will help support businesses and individuals during the gradual re-opening of the economy and maintain employer-employee relationships, says the C.D. Howe Institute’s Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support.
At their recent meeting, working group members identified factors contributing to the large utilization gap between the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and CEWS, highlighted the importance of timely and reliable data, and considered the financial needs of Canadians who will not qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) after exhausting CERB.
The group supports the federal government’s decision to…
Ken Boessenkool – Change The Child Tax Deduction To Address The Coming Childcare Shortage
From: Ken Boessenkool To: Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance Date: May 7, 2020 Re: Change the child tax deduction to address the coming childcare shortage Three related facts about the COVID-19 economic recession are becoming clearer. The most affected sectors are public facing sectors – largely the service sector; the most affected income group is the poor; and […] Phil Oreopoulos – Graduating During The Covid-19 Recession
From: Phil Oreopoulos To: Canada’s graduating students Date: April 30, 2020 Re: Graduating During the COVID-19 Recession The pandemic response means bleak job prospects for this year’s graduating students. There’s no sugar-coating that many will be unable to find full-time work after finishing high school or completing a postsecondary program. The weaker labour market will also have long-lasting effects. […] To reopen the economy, put curbs on the CERB – Financial Post Op-Ed
The Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was an early and critical element in the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. The government first announced the CERB in late March, promising $2,000 a month for up to four months for workers who have lost their incomes as a result of the pandemic. In mid-April, it expanded eligibility to make the CERB available to people earning up to $1,000 per month and to workers whose EI benefits had run out.
Widely praised for providing immediate income support and helping contain the coronavirus by reducing pressure on lower-income people to work, the CERB made sense in an emergency. With attention increasingly turning to reopening the economy, however, the CERB is becoming a…
When the Smoke Clears: Tackling Disincentives to Work
April 27, 2020 – It’s time to consider the gradual winding down of emergency benefits and tackle disincentives to work, says the C.D. Howe Institute’s Crisis Working Group on Household Income and Credit Support.
Rather than extending the criteria for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to fill remaining support gaps, new targeted federal or provincial programs​ should be used to cover those still ineligible.
At their April 21 meeting, the group identified niche populations who are affected by COVID-19 but are falling through the cracks as they do not meet the CERB requirements, including working social assistance recipients and new entrants to the labour market. However, these support gaps should be…