From Temporary Financial Assistance to Longer Term Income Support: Probing the Growth in Ontario’s Disability Support Program (ODSP)
Keywords:
Disability, Social Assistance, Income support, DemographyAbstract
The number of people accessing benefits on social assistance in Ontario is not of minor importance, with almost a million (964,182) beneficiaries province-wide in 2016. An important factor in explaining the recent upturn in the number of beneficiaries relates to a growth in the number of persons on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Over the 2003-2016 period, growth in participation in this program was 4.5 times the province’s rate of population growth and about 4.7 times the observed growth in the number of persons on Ontario Works (OW). As a result, for the first time in the province’s history, in late 2014, the number of persons on ODSP actually grew to outnumber the total on OW. The primary purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of some of the factors contributing to ODSP growth, including an aging population, difficult labour market conditions, a greater acceptance and diagnosis of mental illness, lower rates of standard employment (and thus lower access to work-based disability benefits), and a slight upturn in the number of persons shifting from OW (meant to provide temporary financial assistance) to ODSP (which is typically longer term).
Résumé
Un nombre important de personnes ont accès à des prestations d’aide sociale en Ontario, en 2016 seulement, il y avait près d’un million (964 182) de bénéficiaires dans l’ensemble de la province. La croissance du nombre de personnes inscrites au Programme ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées (POSPH) est un facteur important pour expliquer la récente augmentation du nombre de bénéficiaires. Entre 2003 et 2016, l’augmentation de la participation à ce programme a été 4,5 fois supérieure au taux de croissance démographique de la province et environ 4,7 fois supérieure à la croissance observée du nombre de personnes participant au programme Ontario au travail (OT). À la fin de 2014, le nombre de personnes inscrites au POSPH a augmenté pour dépasser celui des personnes inscrites au programme OT, une première fois dans l’histoire de la province. Cet article vise principalement à donner un bref aperçu de certains des facteurs contribuant à la croissance du POSPH, notamment une population vieillissante, des conditions difficiles du marché du travail, une meilleure acceptation et le diagnostic des maladies mentales, des taux moins élevés de contrats de travail standards (donc un accès réduit aux prestations d’incapacité liées au travail) et une légère augmentation du nombre de personnes qui passent de OT, qui est censé fournir une aide financière temporaire, au POSPH, qui est généralement à long terme.
Mots clés: Incapacité; assurance sociale; soutien du revenu; démographie
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