Surviving on Welfare Alone is Currently Not Possible

November 26, 2009 by Ontario Works
Filed under: Poverty

It seems that lately the ongoing theme of poverty reform is how the math of social assistance living doesn’t add up; and rightly so, because it doesn’t. That is why the Sudbury & District Board of Health’s recent motion is so important in the ongoing fight against poverty.

You can say what you will about each person’s own individual resolve and efforts to exit welfare. You may even try to argue that welfare rates should not be increased, in order to discourage someone from having a goal of living a “welfare lifestyle”. However, arguments such as these are merely illusions: stereotypical, political mental imagery that the conservative government of Mike Harris drilled into the public subconscious on a daily basis during the welfare reform years. They are powerful, emotional issues designed to divert your attention from the verifiable truth, the fact that it is not mathematically possible to live on the amount of money that welfare provides.

At this point a chorus of opinions often argue that people should not “choose” to live on welfare. The sad reality is that most people do not make a choice to live on welfare; the choice is often made for them due to circumstances that are not within their control. Whether it’s a lost job, an illness of a family member or self, addictions or mental health, people generally do not choose to stay on welfare. Very seldom does anyone set this lifestyle as a goal.

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