Welfare Clawback Rate Traps Able-Bodied Workers in Poverty: Study

Welfare Clawback Rate Traps Able-Bodied Workers in Poverty: Study
A "help wanted" sign is seen in the window of a bakery in Ottawa, in this file photo. Chris Wattie/Reuters
Marnie Cathcart
Updated:
If the government reduced taxes and reduced welfare benefits more gradually, more Quebecers receiving social support would join the workforce, suggests a study released Monday by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), a public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary.

The study said the current welfare system “encourages long-term dependency through perverse economic incentives,” and adds that it only traps “able-bodied recipients in a vicious cycle of poverty.”