Community Agencies Support Research on an Alberta Guaranteed Basic Income

Blog Series - Part Three: Social Policy for Poverty Reduction

Blog Series - Part One: Social Policy for Poverty Reduction and the Power of Your Vote

The Calgary Social Policy Collaborative (SPC) is a network of over 40 community organizations and funders working together to promote public policies that improve the economic and social well-being of all Albertans. The Social Policy Collaborative’s mandate is to create a unified voice for the human services sector and improve social conditions by collaboratively advocating for effective social policy. Its objectives are to assist the sector in developing its capacity in policy development and to work together to inform the development and implementation of public policy that improves social conditions.

Albertans are facing elevated levels of unemployment, employment volatility, and income instability as we work to recover from the overlapping crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crash in oil prices that have shocked Alberta’s economy. This brief highlights opportunities to improve the effectiveness of Alberta’s Income and Employment Support programs. These programs will be essential to the province’s economic recovery as Albertans seek support to meet their essential needs and find new opportunities to become self-sufficient through employment.

SPC-Income-Support-Policy-Brief-2020.pdf

Social Policy Collaborative Income Support Policy Brief 2020

The child benefit is a preventative policy that keeps struggling families with children out of poverty. The pathway to resilience begins in childhood: fewer children living in poverty now, leads to more independent adults in the future. 

improving-the-effectiveness-of-income-supports_social-policy-collaborative.pdf

Social Policy Collaborative Policy Brief: Improving the Effectiveness of Income Supports

Members of the SPC identified a need for greater research capacity in the social services sector. To that end, 11 organizations pooled resources to financially support the work of social policy researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.

The second of two reports supported through this research partnership, An Alberta Guaranteed Basic Income: Issues and Options proposes a self-financing Alberta Guaranteed Basic Income (AGBI) made possible through modest changes to the tax system. This brief provides an overview of the context within which basic income discussions are unfolding, both locally and internationally; summarizes the key elements of the AGBI proposal; and offers an analysis through the lens of the SPC’s objective of informing the development and implementation of policies that improve economic and social well-being of Albertans.

SPC-Response-to-An-Alberta-Guarantee-Basic-Income-Issues-and-options-05_2019.pdf

An Alberta Guaranteed Basic Income: Issues and Options  - Response from the Calgary Social Policy Collaborative

Members of the SPC identified a need for greater research capacity in the social services sector to identify and develop evidence-based policy recommendations that address the needs of our community. To that end, eleven organizations pooled resources to financially support the work of social policy researchers at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.

The first of two reports, Measuring and Responding to Income Poverty: Concepts and Possibilities, adds clarity to our understanding of the prevalence of poverty in Alberta, the shortcomings of our Income Support system, as well as an interesting proposal to address housing affordability challenges for people accessing social assistance. This brief addresses the key recommendations of the report.

SPC-Response-to-Measuring-and-Responding-to-Income-Poverty-Concepts-and-Possibilities.pdf

Measuring and Responding to Income Poverty: Response from the Calgary Social Policy Collaborative

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