Welfare Incomes 2009

Note that there are updates to Welfare Incomes 2009 affecting all lone parents as well as earnings exemptions levels in Alberta.

As the National Council of Welfare has done since 1986, in Welfare Incomes 2009 we look at the situation of four family types: a lone parent with a 2-year-old child, a couple with two children aged 10 and 15, a single person considered employable and a single person with a disability.

Chapter 1 lists the main elements of the complicated process of qualifying for welfare in Canada. Chapters 2 to 5 focus on each family type, comparing their welfare incomes over time and gauging their adequacy using two low-income measures—Low income cut-offs and the Market Basket Measure—as well as average and median incomes. Chapter 6 looks at liquid asset provisions as of January 1, 2009 and for the first time compares 1989 levels in constant dollars of 2009 to those of 2009. Earnings exemption provisions are the subject of Chapter 7, where we also look at the potential impact of the federal Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB) on welfare households with earnings.

Volume # 129

Released Date 2010-12-13

Files

English

• (PDF 6369872 bytes) 
  
• INSIDE COVER (HTML)
• MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON (HTML)
• WELFARE INCOMES: KEY PATTERNS AND TRENDS (HTML)
• CHAPTER 1 - WHAT IS WELFARE? (HTML)
• CHAPTER 2 - SINGLE PERSON CONSIDERED EMPLOYABLE (HTML)
• CHAPTER 3 - SINGLE PERSON WITH A DISABILITY (HTML)
• CHAPTER 4 - LONE PARENT WITH A CHILD AGED TWO (HTML)
• CHAPTER 5 - COUPLE WITH TWO CHILDREN AGED 10 AND 15 (HTML)
• CHAPTER 6 - ASSET EXEMPTIONS (HTML)
• CHAPTER 7 - WELFARE AND EARNINGS (HTML)
• APPENDICES - METHODOLOGY (HTML)
• APPENDICES - STATISTICAL TABLES (HTML)

French

• (PDF 7438055 bytes) 
  
• LA PAGE 2e DE COUVERTURE (HTML)
• MESSAGE DU PRÉSIDENT (HTML)
• REVENUS DE BIEN-ÊTRE SOCIAL : PROFILS ET TENDANCES (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 1 - QU'EST-CE QUE LE BIEN-ÊTRE SOCIAL? (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 2 - PERSONNE SEULE CONSIDÉRÉE APTE AU TRAVAIL (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 3 - PERSONNE SEULE HANDICAPÉE (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 4 - PARENT SEUL AVEC UN ENFANT DE DEUX ANS (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 5 - COUPLE AVEC DEUX ENFANTS DE 10 ET 15 ANS (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 6 - EXEMPTIONS D'ACTIFS (HTML)
• CHAPITRE 7 - AIDE SOCIALE ET GAINS (HTML)
• ANNEXES - MÉTHODOLOGIE (HTML)
• ANNEXES - TABLEAUX STATISTIQUES (HTML)

Related Materials

• Welfare design outdated, counterproductive
• National Council of Welfare Statement on the Release of Welfare Incomes 2009
• Welfare Incomes 2009 - Provincial/territorial fact sheets
• Welfare Incomes 2009 - Guest Statements
• Welfare Incomes 2009 - Postcards
• Welfare Incomes 2009: Update as of March 2011