The United Way will get busier with more pleas for help in the wake of the new provincial government’s reductions in planned improvements to provincial welfare and disability benefits, the charity’s executive director said Wednesday.

On July 31, the Ontario Progressive Conservative government set a 100-day deadline to establish a “sustainable” social assistance program. It limited hikes to benefits and froze some rules that would have helped impoverished people.

Francesca Dobbyn compiled figures for Grey and Bruce counties and found the changes that were to begin to take effect this fall will affect about 8,800 households across Grey-Bruce who live under the Ontario poverty line.

“The intention was to educate the community on what poverty really is,” she said of the information she released on behalf of the United Way and Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force. “What are really the social assistance levels? (It’s) to do with poor-bashing, blaming.”

The figures show there are 1,949 households on average per month in Grey-Bruce receiving Ontario Works benefits and 6,855 households receiving Ontario Disability Support Program benefits.

In July, 1,148, or 62 per cent, of Ontario Works recipients were single, 595, or 31 per cen,t were sole-supporting parents, and the rest were dual parent families or couples with no children.

The province will hike Ontario Works and ODSP by 1.5 per cent in September, but it’s half of the increase promised by the previous government. A three per cent hike would have meant $23 per month more for a single person on Ontario Works and $35 per month more for a single person on ODSP.

Dobbyn said with the increase, a single person will receive $732 per month — 65 per cent below Ontario’s $2,080 poverty line. The poverty line in Grey-Bruce would be similar, though Dobbyn didn’t know the exact figure.

A single person on ODSP receiving $929 is 55 per cent below the poverty line, she said.

“(I)f the government’s pulling back on programming, then charities are the ones that have to step up,” she said. “So if we’re not getting a three per cent increase, we’re only getting 1.5, then it means more pressure on food banks, more pressure on utility programs, more pressure on backpack programs.”

Dobbyn said she hopes the provincial government consults widely to ensure the perspective of her agency and others is considered in government policy decisions, particularly those addressing rural poverty.

Better transportation options and access to affordable and flexible childcare are needed, she said.

She noted with 62 per cent of recipients being singles, supports beyond those just focussing on children and families are needed.

The provincial government’s July 31 news release which announced changes to Ontario Works and ODSP said the government is working on a plan to reform social assistance to help break the cycle of poverty and re-enter the workforce.

Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, also announced the end of the three-year Basic Income Research Project in three areas of Ontario, which didn’t include Grey-Bruce.

She said the new approach will “support them to succeed” and help “through more jobs”.

The news release said the number of people forced to go on social assistance increased by 55 per cent. “One in five people stays on Ontario Works for five or more years, and if they leave almost half return, 90 per cent of them within a year. This is what a cycle of poverty looks like.”

Planned three per cent increases to Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program benefits will now be limited to 1.5 per cent hikes, effective Oct. 1 and Sept. 1 respectively.

Benefits of someone who lives in a relationship with a higher earning partner will continue to see benefits reduced or eliminated after three months, not three years, as was to take place in November under the previous government’s plan.

Claw-backs of job or training program income will start after $200 is earned, not the $400 set to take effect Dec. 1, and waiting periods to be eligible for earnings exemptions now won’t be reduced as had been planned by the former government.