Kneebone and Wilkins: Social assistance rates often too low to keep people housed

As more Canadians face housing uncertainty, the traditional poverty line is no longer adequate for determining the need for government assistance. New research from the School of Public Policy recommends the Homelessness Income Cut Off (HICO) as a better tool for policymakers.

The HICO focuses on the income necessary to prevent homelessness after individuals and families have used up all other cost-saving measures.

The findings are included in a Policy Brief from authors Ron Kneebone and Margarita Wilkins which builds on their early work, titled HICO — The Homelessness Income Cut Off: A Further Exploration

This paper provides estimates of the HICO in 50 communities across Canada and finds the income needed to avoid homelessness differs for single individuals, lone-parent families and two-parent households, as well as between small towns and large urban centres.

“What we say to governments is: these people are fighting like hell to hang on to their housing by using food banks, by using charities. And even with them fighting like hell, your social assistance income remains insufficient for them to remain housed,” Kneebone told the Globe and Mail in an interview for the release of the paper.

In many communities, the social assistance rates are signaling an “impending crisis,” Kneebone said.

As housing and living costs continue to rise, the study says, the HICO is a practical way to identify individuals and families at greater risk of homelessness and to determine whether public policies adequately ensure housing stability.

Read the full article interview with Ron Kneebone in the Globe and Mail.

Read the policy brief, The Homelessness Income Cut Off: A Further Exploration.