The Canadian safety net for the elderly.

Area of Science:

• Social Policy
• Gerontology
• Economics

Background:

• Canadian social assistance system shows success in reducing elderly poverty.
• Potential lessons for the U.S. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Purpose of the Study:

• Profile the Canadian system.
• Compare it with the U.S. SSI program.
• Assess elderly poverty rates and system costs.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of social assistance programs.
• Cost assessment of Canadian income support for the elderly.
• Review of poverty reduction outcomes.

Main Results:

• Canadian system is more generous but significantly more costly than U.S. SSI.
• Canadian elderly income support cost ~14x U.S. allocation for similar recipients.
• Canadian GDP per capita was 80% of U.S. level in 2004.

Conclusions:

• Canadian system's cost is substantial, including Old Age Security demogrant.
• U.S. policymakers should consider integrating SSI with Social Security.
• Explore alternatives to strict asset limits and reduce access barriers for SSI.