Gender Equity within Families versus Better Targeting: An Assessment of the Family Income Supplement to Employment Insurance Benefits

Shelley Phipps, Martha MacDonald and Fiona MacPhail

Canadian Public Policy, 2001, vol. 27, issue 4, 423-446

Abstract: Under both Unemployment Insurance (UI) and now under Employment Insurance (EI), Canada has offered extra benefits for some claimants with dependent children. This paper assesses the replacement of the Depenencey Rate (DR) under UI with the Family Income Supplement (FS) under EI. The major difference between the programs is that eligibility for the DR was based on individual earnings while eligibility for the FS is based on family income. Using evidence from both the Canadian Out of Employment Panel and a set of focus groups conducted by the authors, we conclude that while the FS has improved the targeting of benefits, many married women have lost entitlement or received lower benefits, thereby increasing the potential for inequity within families.

Date: 2001
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