Income Programs and
Social Rights and Wrongs
Michael J. Prince
Remarks for the
Human Rights and Persons with Intellectual
Disabilities Conference
Niagara Falls, Canada
April 22, 2010
Questions
How are rights, respect, and
responsibilities talked about in
connection with citizenship?
 In Canada, what model of social rights is
contained in income security programs
for persons with disabilities?
 What are the effects of income programs
for people with disabilities and other
groups in society?
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My purposes
To place rights and citizenship at the
centre of our analysis of income security
policy
 To explore what “a culture of rights,
respect, and responsibilities” might look
like in social policy and for people with
disabilities in Canada
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Social rights & citizenship
These terms have public meaning and
political significance in Canada
 Full citizenship is a core objective and
key message of the disability movement
 Social programs, such as health care,
seen as contributing to national identity
and sense of belonging
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What are social rights?
“… social rights are … concerned
with establishing the material
and cultural conditions for social
inclusion and participation, such
that the “social self” may
develop.”
(F. Twine, Citizenship and Social Rights: The Interdependence of Self and
Society, London: Sage, 1994, p. 11)
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Relation between the 3 R’s
and political ideologies
Rights
Liberalism
Social welfarism
Respect
Social democratic
Communitarian
Responsibilities
Civic republicanism
Neo-conservatism/Neoliberalism
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Three concepts of social
citizenship
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Classical – writings since 1940s on the
emergence and development of welfare states
around the western world
Critical – critiques of the welfare state and
social policies, since 1970s, from divergent
view points
Contextual – an emergent perspective that
argues citizenship is best understood in
specific time periods and concrete policies
and program experiences
Classical vision of social
citizenship


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Rights to a state guaranteed minimum of
economic welfare and security through an
array of public services and benefits
Respect as formal equality of status among
community members to live “the civilized
life according to prevailing societal standards
Responsibilities noted but not emphasized as
much as entitlements
Critical: two divergent
streams

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Rights as passive benefits from the state, and
have been overemphasized at the expense of
responsibilities
Respect, for some, as respect by individuals to
uphold society’s rules and values; for others,
concerns over stigma, client-hood
Responsibilities as personal obligations, selfreliance and family duties; for others, it is a
weak expression of collective responsibility for
marginalized and oppressed groups
Contextual approach
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Rights in social programs have both active and
passive elements
Respect – the degree and quality of respect that
exists is a question to be investigated, not
assumed to be present or absent
Responsibilities are actually embedded in
benefit and service systems, and typically
enforced by administrators, health personnel,
supervisors and front line workers
Principles for entitlement
to income programs
Need due to inadequate resources as a
result of impairments
 Work performance and earnings
 Residence or legal citizenship status
 Dependents within a family
 Military service
 Educational pursuits
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The primary image of
citizen in income policy

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The paid worker/problematic body
Social rights earned through working in the
regular labour force and paying
premiums/taxes
Adult body becomes impaired and thus
difficult to sustain labour force participation
Income benefits potentially from CPP
Disability, Employment Insurance, Workers’
compensation or a Veteran’s pension
Implications for persons with
intellectual disabilities


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Connection to social rights, respect and
responsibilities, through Canada’s income
security system, is complicated, patchy and
unsatisfactory
Income support is delivered mainly through
provincial welfare systems
Systems characterized by stigma, inadequate
benefits, complicated rules and, at times, illtrained and insensitive staff
The image here is of a struggling client rather
than a social citizen
Conclusions
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No single model of social citizenship in
Canadian politics or social policy
Concepts of rights, respect, and responsibilities
linked with distinct streams of political beliefs
Income programs bring about social wrongs
and social rights, exclusions and inclusions,
insecurity and security
The result: an impoverished culture of rights,
respect, and responsibilities for Canadians with
intellectual disabilities and their families
Thank you
Michael J. Prince
Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy
Faculty of Human and Social Development
University of Victoria
mprince@uvic.ca
Please visit our Research Alliance project
“Disabling Poverty and Enabling Citizenship”
http://www.ccdonline.ca/en/socialpolicy/poverty-citizenship
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