| Year Funded: 2011 | Budget: $88,160.00 | Funding Agency: Institute for Work & Health (IWH), Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| Title: | Work Injury and Poverty: Investigating Prevalence across Programs and Over Time (IWH Project 2180) | |
| Category: | Compensation, Disability Management and Return to Work | |
| Subcategory: | Compensation, Disability Management and Return to Work | |
| Keywords: | Poverty, permanent impairment, low income, workers’ compensation benefits, work injury | |
| Link to research website: | www.iwh.on.ca | |
Issue:
Research on the economic impact of work disability has found that permanently impaired workers have reduced labour-market earnings, suffer significant long-term financial losses, and are at increased risk of poverty. There is also some preliminary evidence that suggests the proportion of impoverished claimants is rising, though little is known about the specific factors that contribute to poverty and the reasons for its possible increase. One explanation might be that key changes in labour-market contracting practices (e.g., increased use of contingent labour) have made it more difficult for permanently impaired workers to maintain paid employment. Another possibility is that changes in the workers’ compensation legislation and policy have eroded the support structures that facilitate labour-market reentry and/or have reduced access to adequate benefits.
Objectives:
This study will investigate the prevalence of poverty in claimants across different time periods and different legislative programs using a large representative sample created through a data linkage. It will also investigate how program type, time period, and other individual and contextual factors affect the probability of poverty. Such knowledge is essential to developing policies and programs that support improved outcomes for permanently impaired workers – e.g., via better targeting of financial assistance measures and labour-market re-entry support
Anticipated Results:
The outcome of this research will include reports that describe: 1) the prevalence of low income across four different long-term disability workers’ compensation programs and three different time periods; and 2) statistical models that identify the significance and magnitude of effects from program type, time period, and other individual and contextual factors on poverty rates.
Investigators:
Emile Tompa (Institute for Work & Health)
