Using a Resistance Lens to Understand Performative Compliance of Low-Income Lone Mothers

The agency of lone mothers who rely on government income supports is often erased by the discourse of dependency, especially under welfare-to-work eligibility criteria. Here we apply the concept of small acts of micro-resistance in constrained circumstances, augmented by conceptualization of resistance as conscious oppositionality and intentionality to understand the agency of lone-mothers who receive income-assistance (IA) as they make-do and raise children under state- and market-enforced rules. Using a resistance lens reveals the interconnected importance of everyday acts like “talking back” to income-support staff, surreptitious gleaning of goods for resale, and re-storying the self. We describe these in three modalities: resistance as evasion and subterfuge; resistance through asserting positive identities; and resistance in forging their own path. Using a conceptual framework of resistance reveals the extent to which women’s survival and capacity to raise children are contingent on a performance of compliance, demonstrating the impacts of welfare-to-work on female-headed lone parent families.

Social protection and informality in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic

Latin American governments swiftly implemented income assistance programs to sustain families’ livelihoods during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. This paper analyzes the potential coverage and generosity of these measures and assesses the suitability of current safety nets to deal with unexpected negative income shocks in 10 Latin American countries. The expansion of pre-existing programs (most notably conditional cash transfers and non-contributory pensions) during the COVID-19 crisis was generally insufficient to compensate for the inability to work among the poorest segments of the population. When COVID-19 ad hoc programs are analyzed, the coverage and replacement rates of regular labor income among households in the first quintile of the country’s labor income distribution increase substantially. Yet, these programs present substantial coverage challenges among families composed of fundamentally informal workers who are non-poor, but are at a high risk of poverty. These results highlight the limitations of the fragmented nature of social protection systems in the region.

First-Year University Students’ Mental Health Trajectories Were Disrupted at the Onset of COVID-19, but Disruptions Were Not Linked to Housing and Financial Vulnerabilities: A Registered Report

This study modeled disruptions in first-year undergraduates’ trajectories of mental health associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, testing whether disruptions were worse for students who moved residences, reported low family income, or were food insecure. Participants ( n = 510) at a large Canadian university reported depression, anxiety, and stress in September, November, January, and March. In March 2020, in tandem with COVID-related campus closures, students also reported for each mental health measure whether their responses were influenced by personal experiences surrounding the pandemic. As hypothesized, students who reported feeling more COVID-related disruption reported poorer mental health in March. Contrary to hypotheses, mental health disruptions were not more pronounced for students who moved, had low income, or were food insecure. Survey administration at an early stage of COVID-19 combined with supports afforded by moving in with parents and near-universal government income assistance may have mitigated the incremental distress we hypothesized for vulnerable students.

Effect of COVID-19 on Pet Food Bank Servicing: Quantifying Numbers of Clients Serviced in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, British Columbia, Canada

Previous research has focused on the benefits and difficulties of pet ownership in people, who are experiencing homelessness. However, many pet services, such as pet food banks, serve a more varied population of people. Furthermore, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been documented within the context of pet food banks. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) population comprises a notable proportion of the city's overall population and has a high density of people who are experiencing financial hardships, but some of whom do not always experience homelessness. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the number of clients and pets that are being serviced by a pet food bank, whether that has changed over time, and if it was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed available attendance and service records from The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals pet food bank between 2013 and 2020. We found that a median of 100 clients attended the food bank each week and that most of the companion animals serviced were cats (72.5%), then followed by dogs (25.2%), and rats (1.2%). Servicing was not consistent over time, with a weekly pattern of decreased attendance every fourth week of the month, which coincided with income assistance payments. This suggests that either servicing needs are decreased with income assistance or that the week of the month may present an access to care challenge. We also observed a decrease in the clientele attending in 2020 compared to previous years, suggesting an effect of COVID-19. Specifically, this trend was present for cats, rats, rabbits, and “other” companion animals, but not for dogs; the number of dog owners receiving services did not change in 2020, suggesting a difference between needed services in dog vs. other pet owners. The yearly trends shed light on the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations, highlighting the need for additional support through times of crisis. Overall, the data show a complex relationship between pet service provision and other community issues and highlight the need to consider pet food banks within the greater social services networks.

Integrated knowledge translation to strengthen public policy research: a case study from experimental research on income assistance receipt among people who use drugs

Background Solutions to complex public health issues should be informed by scientific evidence, yet there are important differences between policy and research processes that make this relationship challenging. Integrated knowledge translation (IKT) is a strategy of sustained stakeholder engagement that intends to address barriers to evidence use. We highlight an example of an IKT project alongside a randomized controlled trial of a public policy intervention that tested different disbursement patterns of income assistance among people who use drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia. Methods A case study design was used where an IKT strategy led by a knowledge broker embedded within the research team acts as the case. This case study evaluates the process and effectiveness of the integrated knowledge translation project by measuring intermediate outcomes within a Theory of Change created to map pathways to impact. Content analysis was performed using an evaluation template through document review, post-event evaluations, and detailed tracking of media, knowledge translation activities and requests for information. Results A host of knowledge translation products synthesized existing research about the harms of synchronized income assistance disbursement and supported stakeholder engagement, facilitating conversation, relationship building and trust with stakeholders. Engagement improved knowledge of the contextual feasibility for system change, and contributed experiential knowledge to study findings. A combination of access to information and stakeholder and media engagement led to increased acknowledgement of the issue by policy makers directly involved in the income assistance system. Conclusions This project shows how a multipronged approach to IKT addressed barriers to evidence-informed public policy and successfully contributed to increased public discourse around income assistance policy reform. Additionally, sustained engagement with diverse stakeholders led to improved contextual knowledge and understanding of potential community level impacts that, along with scientific results, improved the evidence available to inform system change. This case study provides insight into the role IKT can play alongside research aimed at public policy improvements. Trial registration This IKT project was embedded within the study titled: The impact of Alternative Social Assistance Disbursement on Drug-Related Harm (TASA), known as Cheque Day Study, registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02457949) May 29, 2015.

Policy Forum: Crisis, Cleanup, and the Prospect of Long-Term Fiscal Change

In this article, Shirley Tillotson compares policies adopted by the Canadian government to address the fiscal demands of the Second World War with a widely available income-assistance measure introduced in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also discusses elements of post-war tax administration with an eye to parallels that can help us to think about our current situation and plans for the near future. Emphasizing the great difficulties and worries that burdened decision makers in the earlier period, Tillotson underscores the need for modesty in our expectations and urges attention to both contingencies of the moment (such as the life experience of key decision makers) and the longer-term structural dynamics at play (such as changes in the composition of the labour market).