Predictors of employment and income assistance usage in early adulthood across type and income quintile

Abstract

Social Assistance – also known as welfare – has been a program of last resort for individuals in poverty across Canada for many years. The use of social assistance in early adulthood is of particular interest, as these individuals have a long life of consequences ahead of them. The social assistance program available in Manitoba, Canada – the setting of this study – is Employment and Income Assistance (EIA). This study examines difference in predictors of early adult (ages 18-25) EIA usage across income quintiles of the neighborhoods individuals lived in as they enter young adulthood (age 18) and the type of EIA (General Assistance, Single Parent or Disability) received.