Policy Target
Contingencies and penalties for social welfare receipt
EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY
Government units utilize evidence-informed requirements for participation in the social protection system. For example, government units rely on updated evidence-based reports assessing how welfare conditionality influences effectiveness and rapport building with recipients.
SAMPLE INDICATORS
- Number/percentage of initiatives referring to data and statistics as part of the rationale for their scope and requirements
- Number/percentage of initiatives that discuss effectiveness relative to welfare conditionality
EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY
Government units revise welfare conditions that penalize recipients with deductions from their welfare payments.
SAMPLE INDICATORS
- Status of social welfare benefits relative to claw backs
- Trends in social welfare earnings relative to changes in recipients’ employment and life circumstances
EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY
Government units remove welfare requirements that may force recipients to accept seasonal or part-time jobs with unreliable hours and low pay in order to continue to receive benefits.
SAMPLE INDICATORS
- Number/percentage of social welfare recipients with insecure or precarious employment
EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY
Government units address welfare contractual obligations that impose financial and time burdens on recipients (e.g., meeting the minimum job application quotas and attending regular appointments).
SAMPLE INDICATORS
- Levels of fear, stress, and tension among social welfare recipients
- Average amount of time and cost expended by recipients to meet the requirements
- Perceived burden of the program among recipients
EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY
Government units reassess the imposition of time limits on benefits and mandatory volunteering requirements.
SAMPLE INDICATORS
- People’s ability to transition to the workforce (e.g., before and after the removal of restrictions and requirements)
EVIDENCE-BASED STRATEGY
Government units remove austerity-based penalties for noncompliance, which disproportionally affect the most disadvantaged populations (e.g., single parents, people experiencing disabilities, racialized groups). Government units eliminate strict and unrealistic work for welfare requirements that are evidenced to be counterproductive in supporting transitions into paid labour market (e.g., work requirements in rural and remote communities where there are job shortages).
SAMPLE INDICATORS
- Number/percentage of benefits revoked for failure to meet social welfare conditions
- Poverty levels among beneficiaries’ dependents (e.g., children of unemployed parents/guardians)
- Percentage of beneficiaries’ children who experience a drop in poverty rates
- Staff perceptions of the effect of the cessation of obligations on recipients (e.g., stratified by program type)