Workfare works under the assumption that every person receiving government assistance is able to work for this assistance. However, workfare in Canada has met with more than one barrier to employment. There are several groups of people who, for one reason or another, cannot work and therefore are not able to survive in a workfare situation. For example, primary caregivers that have one or more young children at home may be physically able to work, but they cannot work because of the children that they need to care for. Having a young child is a major barrier to employment that many individuals face and therefore it is a critically important factor that programs like workfare need to consider. Canada considers single parents with dependent children employable depending on the child’s age. British Columbia sets that age at seven years; Manitoba at six years; Quebec at five years; Ontario at “pre-school” age; Saskatchewan, the Yukon, and Newfoundland set the age at two years; Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island set it at one year; and Alberta sets the youngest age at six months. Regardless of what age a province decides the child should be, it is obvious that all are in agreement that there is a critical time at the beginning of a child’s life during which the child needs his or her primary caregiver.
Another group facing a barrier to employment is Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people make up one of the fastest-growing segments of the Canadian population, increasing at almost twice the national average, and they represent an increasingly educated, readily available workforce, eager to take on an active role in Canada’s economy. However, despite the unique and diverse skills that the Aboriginal population has to offer, they are facing lower workforce participation and higher unemployment. What does this mean for workfare? Well, Aboriginal people face many barriers in their lives, not just in employment opportunities. They have struggled so much throughout history to maintain their identities as Aboriginal people, hold on to their land, and be considered equals with the rest of mainstream Canadian society. Able-bodied Aboriginal people are willing and able to work, however they face the issue of being forced to conceal their identities in order to “fit in” with society. The inequalities that they have faced and continue to face are a barrier to fair and equal employment.
Minority groups are confronted with issues of inequality and oppression as well. Racial and cultural minorities that are employed are very often placed in very menial jobs because of language or cultural barriers. Some of us may shrug this off and think “well if they don’t know the language, then there’s not much else we can do for them”. This is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, this statement creates an “us-versus-them” mentality in relation to minority groups. Canada prides itself on being multicultural and embracing of various groups, but by perpetuating minority groups as the “other”, we are only furthering the problem by refusing to work with minorities to help them learn English, and by judging them. Secondly, the inability to speak English does not necessarily mean the individual has no skills. We all have something unique to bring to the table, and while communication may be tricky with someone who does not speak English in Canada, this is not to say that they are only good enough to do unskilled labour. Third, from a social work and anti-oppressive perspective, this kind of attitude is a large part of what keeps minority groups as minority groups. We need to work together as a whole rather than consistently picking out individuals and groups and separating them from each other.
An important point to note relates to individuals who only have unskilled labour experience. An individual with strictly that kind of work experience creates their resume to hand out to perspective employers with the hopes of receiving a better job, but they are trapped by this experience. A resume that lists menial labour experience only is most likely to generate interest from other companies that offer similar types of jobs. This is a vicious cycle. In order to truly benefit individuals who may not have the type of skills that typical Canadian jobs require, it would be a good idea to offer jobs that require and teach skills. This is not to say that these jobs should pay huge salaries, and that is not entirely the point in this instance. The learning of valuable skills would be an effective place for people to start, because this would allow them the opportunities to move up in the world rather than persisting at the lowest level of employment. This relates to the Human Capital Development Model discussed in a previous post, which focuses on job training and education in order to help individuals enter the job market at above the minimum wage mark and with skills.
Many barriers to employment exist today, as discussed above. In addition, it is still the sad reality in some instances that prejudices such as sexism, classism, homophobia, and racism all inhibit certain groups of people from becoming employed. Mental and physical disabilities are also barriers to physical labour. There are countless barriers to employment in place today that are far too numerous to examine in this blog posting. This is just a small dip into the vast pool of issues that prevent some individuals from being eligible and able to work, to get our minds thinking about issues that may or may not always be so obvious at an initial glance.
Another group facing a barrier to employment is Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people make up one of the fastest-growing segments of the Canadian population, increasing at almost twice the national average, and they represent an increasingly educated, readily available workforce, eager to take on an active role in Canada’s economy. However, despite the unique and diverse skills that the Aboriginal population has to offer, they are facing lower workforce participation and higher unemployment. What does this mean for workfare? Well, Aboriginal people face many barriers in their lives, not just in employment opportunities. They have struggled so much throughout history to maintain their identities as Aboriginal people, hold on to their land, and be considered equals with the rest of mainstream Canadian society. Able-bodied Aboriginal people are willing and able to work, however they face the issue of being forced to conceal their identities in order to “fit in” with society. The inequalities that they have faced and continue to face are a barrier to fair and equal employment.
Minority groups are confronted with issues of inequality and oppression as well. Racial and cultural minorities that are employed are very often placed in very menial jobs because of language or cultural barriers. Some of us may shrug this off and think “well if they don’t know the language, then there’s not much else we can do for them”. This is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, this statement creates an “us-versus-them” mentality in relation to minority groups. Canada prides itself on being multicultural and embracing of various groups, but by perpetuating minority groups as the “other”, we are only furthering the problem by refusing to work with minorities to help them learn English, and by judging them. Secondly, the inability to speak English does not necessarily mean the individual has no skills. We all have something unique to bring to the table, and while communication may be tricky with someone who does not speak English in Canada, this is not to say that they are only good enough to do unskilled labour. Third, from a social work and anti-oppressive perspective, this kind of attitude is a large part of what keeps minority groups as minority groups. We need to work together as a whole rather than consistently picking out individuals and groups and separating them from each other.
An important point to note relates to individuals who only have unskilled labour experience. An individual with strictly that kind of work experience creates their resume to hand out to perspective employers with the hopes of receiving a better job, but they are trapped by this experience. A resume that lists menial labour experience only is most likely to generate interest from other companies that offer similar types of jobs. This is a vicious cycle. In order to truly benefit individuals who may not have the type of skills that typical Canadian jobs require, it would be a good idea to offer jobs that require and teach skills. This is not to say that these jobs should pay huge salaries, and that is not entirely the point in this instance. The learning of valuable skills would be an effective place for people to start, because this would allow them the opportunities to move up in the world rather than persisting at the lowest level of employment. This relates to the Human Capital Development Model discussed in a previous post, which focuses on job training and education in order to help individuals enter the job market at above the minimum wage mark and with skills.
Many barriers to employment exist today, as discussed above. In addition, it is still the sad reality in some instances that prejudices such as sexism, classism, homophobia, and racism all inhibit certain groups of people from becoming employed. Mental and physical disabilities are also barriers to physical labour. There are countless barriers to employment in place today that are far too numerous to examine in this blog posting. This is just a small dip into the vast pool of issues that prevent some individuals from being eligible and able to work, to get our minds thinking about issues that may or may not always be so obvious at an initial glance.
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Another barrier to employment is the current cost of daycare and the lack of a universal daycare system. Currently, those who are eligible for workfare are eligible for full childcare subsidy in Ontario under the Day Nurseries Act. This changes when a person comes off workfare and is trying to exist on a full employment wage. In January of 2007, the province "simplified" the process of applying for childcare subsidy by going to an "income test" model rather than a needs assessment. Under the needs assessment, income, assets and monthly expenses were considered when establishing eligibility for subsidy. Currently, your last years taxable income is used to determine your eligibility. Those who make over $20,000 a year are not eligible for full subsidy. This marker of $20,000 is remarkably low, fails to take into account extra expenses a family might have, and is not adjusted by family size. Many working poor have been very much affected by this change. While they are still eligible for subsidy, their parental contribution to child care costs becomes unmanageable for many families. There is no possibility for adjustment under this system, so those families who make JUST enough (ie. $21,000/year) to not qualify for full subsidy end up not able to pay their parental contribution (10% of income above $20,000 per-child can be a lot of money depending on how many children you have, especially keeping in mind that many immigrant families do not have the same cultural expecations around family size as we do here) and are unable to access licensed childcare. Under these circumstances, it leaves little choice for many but to not seek independent employment and to stay within the workfare system.
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