BCPB Home > Benchmarks > Rankings > Performance Indicator 25: Income Assistance

Performance Indicator 25: Income Assistance

Where BC Ranks, Provincial Comparison

Year

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Rank

6

4

4

4

5

6

6

2

2

2

Performance Indicator Twenty-Five is based on the number of people receiving income assistance. Provinces with lower ratios earn better ranks.

In 2005, BC ranked second in Canada with 3.4 percent of the population in receipt of income assistance. This was well below the Canadian average of but still higher than Alberta's 2.7 percent ratio. The highest ratio, 9.4 percent, was in Newfoundland and Labrador.

British Columbia experienced a 64.0 percent decrease in the proportion of people on income assistance between 1996 and 2005. This was the largest decrease in the country. Newfoundland and Labrador (26.6 percent) had the smallest decrease. The percent of Canadians in receipt of income assistance fell by 47.0 percent between 1996 and 2005.

Why It's Important
The proportion of the population collecting income assistance benefits (commonly referred to as welfare) is an important indicator of the economic health of a jurisdiction and may also indicate problems in the incentive structure of the income assistance programs available within a jurisdiction.

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