The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) has reduced poverty across the country. According to research conducted by a team based at the Department of Economics, University of Toronto, the CCB reduced poverty in 11% of families headed by singles mother and almost 17% in two-parent families.
The research, conducted by Professor of Economics Michael Baker, former department member Derek Messacar (now with the Department of Economics at Memorial University), and Mark Stabile, an alumnus of the UofT undergraduate program and a former UTM and Rotman faculty member, won the Douglas Purvis Memorial Prize at the annual meeting of the Canadian Economics Association May 30th to June 1st 2024. Each year, the prize goes to the authors of a highly significant, written contribution to Canadian economic policy. The award-winning paper, Effects of Child Tax Benefits on Poverty and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Canada Child Benefit and Universal Child Care Benefit, appeared in the Journal of Labor Economics (Volume 41, Number 3, October 2023).
“I’m honoured to win this prize,” Professor Baker said. “I knew Doug Purvis briefly at the start of my career and have learned what a positive contribution he made to the economics profession in Canada. It is also a pleasure to share this award with a former colleague here at the department and a graduate of our PhD program. I have worked on many projects with both Mark and Derek over the years.”
In 1989, the Parliament of Canada declared its goal to end child poverty by 2000. According to the United Nations, child poverty in Canada was reduced from 21.1 per cent to 17.8 per cent in between 2017 2021. The CCB was introduced in 2016.
“There is currently a fair amount of interest in cash benefit programs for families with children, and this research adds to the accumulating evidence of their effects,” Baker said. “Also, the CCB represented a significant change in federal benefits for children, and I think it is important that it be evaluated. Evaluation of Canadian economic and social policies is an important contribution economists can make to the country’s well being.”
Established in 1994 the Purvis award competition is open to media in which material relevant to Canadian economic policy appears, including think tank reports and series of articles in newspapers or magazines.
“Every day, economists investigate matters of immediate interest to society,” said Professor Ettore Damiano, Chair of the Department of Economics. “Program evaluations, cost benefit analyses, and other research tools help us to identify what is, and what has the potential to, make life better for everyone. It’s gratifying for our department to see Michael, Mark, and Derek recognized for their investigations into child-poverty alleviation programs. It is very important work, and I am pleased to congratulate all the members of Michael’s team for this award.”
Back to the Department of Economics website.
Scroll more news.