Basic Income

There is plenty of data to show that guaranteed basic income is associated with better health. Closer to home, SPECTRUM's Core Team lead, Marni Brownell, was involved in an MCHP study that showed the Healthy Baby prenatal benefit was associated with better birth outcomes. This research has led to similar basic income initiatives elsewhere. Why not expand on this work and advocate for basic income here in Manitoba!

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Believe it or not, income is not data that is housed at the Manitoba Data Repository. Without this data we need to get creative in how we develop evidence on basic income. The Repository does house data on financial assistance, which can be leveraged by research team members to examine this social issue.

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To better understand the financial assistance programs that currently exist in Manitoba, this study will link 25 years of employment and income assistance (EIA) data with data on demographics (e.g., age, sex, region of residence), mental health, education (e.g., school readiness, high school completion), social service use (e.g., public housing), and justice system encounters. Trajectory analysis of three EIA recipient groups (long-term, short-term, and on/off recipients) will compare their characteristics and outcomes. Using time series analyses, we will assess changes in group composition over two decades and contextualize with historical information on EIA policy changes. This evidence will help identify the impacts of financial benefit programs on social outcomes.