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Social Assistance Benefit Rates and the Employment Rate of Lone Mothers

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  • Kapsalis, Constantine

Abstract

The results show that the increase in social assistance benefits has been a major factor behind the decline in employment rates of lone mothers in Ontario. It is stimated that each $1,000 increase in benefit rates is associated with a 1.9 percentage points reduction in the employment rate of lone mothers. As a result, 95 per cent of the 5.9 percentage point increase in the Quebec-Ontario employment rate gap of lone mothers over the period 1988-90 can be attributed to the increase in Ontario benefits relative to Quebec by $2,962. Labour market conditions do not appear to have had a major impact on employment rates in Ontario over the period 1988-90. This is not very urprising given that the significant deterioration of the Ontario labour market took place after 1990. In particular, the unemployment rate of lone mothers in Ontario increased from 9.2 to 12.0 per cent in 1988-90, while it doubled by the year 1995 (21.7 per cent).

Suggested Citation

  • Kapsalis, Constantine, 1996. "Social Assistance Benefit Rates and the Employment Rate of Lone Mothers," MPRA Paper 25952, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:25952
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25952/1/MPRA_paper_25952.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin D. Dooley, 1994. "The Converging Market Work Patterns of Married Mothers and Lone Mothers in Canada," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 29(2), pages 600-620.
    2. Grady, Patrick & Kapsalis, Constantine, 1995. "Income Security Reform and the Concept of a Guaranteed Annual Income," MPRA Paper 18831, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Michael Charette & Ronald Meng, 1994. "The Determinants of Welfare Participation of Female Heads of Household in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 290-306, May.
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    1. Kapsalis, Constantine, 1999. "Social Assistance and the Employment Rate of Lone Mothers: An Analysis of Ontario's Live Experiment," MPRA Paper 25951, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social assistance; welfare; lone mothers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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