New Reform Strategies and Welfare participation in Canada

Nathan Berg and Todd Gabel ()
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Todd Gabel: Middle Tennessee State University

No 1402, Working Papers from University of Otago, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper measures the extent to which declines in Canadian welfare participation were associated with novel and aggressive welfare reforms. Referred to as new reform strategies, these welfare policy variables are: work requirements, diversion, earning exemptions, and time limits. Controlling for province-specific benefit levels, eligibility requirements, GDP growth, labor market conditions and demographics, the data suggest that welfare participation rates were more than one percentage point lower (equivalent to at least a 13% decline in welfare participation) in provinces where new reforms were present. Work requirements with strong sanctions for non-compliance had the sharpest negative associations with participation rates. Adoption of new reform strategies explains at least 10 percent of observed declines in welfare participation from 1994 to 2009, roughly twice as much as cuts to benefit levels and stricter eligibility requirements can explain.

Keywords: Social Assistance; PRWORA; TANF; Work Requirements; Diversion; Earnings Exemptions; Time Limits; Natural Experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H53 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2014-03, Revised 2014-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://www.otago.ac.nz/economics/news/otago078305.pdf First version, 2014 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: New Reform Strategies and Welfare Participation in Canada (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:otg:wpaper:1402

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