Term: Living in a Family Receiving Income Assistance (AI)
Last Updated: 2020-07-30
This term relates specifically to children who live in a family that is receiving income assistance.
Income Assistance (IA) is a provincial program for people who need help to meet basic personal and family needs. Wherever possible, the program is aimed at helping people find a job or get back to work. Eligibility for income assistance is determined by a test of need. The total financial resources of the household are compared to the total cost of basic necessities as defined in the Employment and Income Assistance Act and Regulation. Applicants must be in financial need for the monthly cost of basic needs such as food, clothing, personal needs and household supplies; some medical costs; housing (rent) and utilities; and some special costs for adults with disabilities.
In Chartier et al. (2016), this term is referred to as "Living in a Family on Income Assistance".
In Chartier et al. (2016), this indicator is defined as the percentage of children aged 0-19 living in families receiving IA. In Chartier et al. (2020), this indicator is defined as the percentage of children (age 0-17) living in a family receiving income assistance.
For more information about identifying families and children within a family, see the
Family Structure, Registry
glossary term.