Systems-Level Reforms to B.C.’s Income and Social Support Programs Along Basic Income Lines

Petit, Gillian and Tedds, Lindsay M. (2020): Systems-Level Reforms to B.C.’s Income and Social Support Programs Along Basic Income Lines.

Abstract

B.C. residents are offered a large, complex web of income and social support programs. Those programs tend to be difficult to access, difficult to understand, and difficult to navigate, and are much more a collection of disparate programs than a cohesive and consistent system targeting an overriding objective. As a result, many potentially eligible persons do not apply for programs they might be eligible for, due to a lack of knowledge or a lack of time and energy; many of these potentially eligible persons are already dealing with other complex and stressful situations, such as searching for employment and/or dealing with medical conditions. The purpose of this paper is to consider whether system-level reforms to B.C.’s income and social supports could make the system more consistent with BI principles (detailed below). This would be a first step toward a more complete contemplation of a BI. This paper focuses on reforms that would apply across the whole system. Petit and Tedds (2020a) detail reforms to B.C.’s biggest income support program: Income Assistance (IA).

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Income supports; social supports; system complexity; Basic income; system-level reforms
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H1 - Structure and Scope of Government > H11 - Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I38 - Government Policy ; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

References

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