Tag Archives: old age security allowance

Old Age Security—Inquiry

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From:   http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca

Statements & Hansard  

Statement made on 26 June 2013 by Liberal Senator Catherine Callbeck  of Prince Edward Island.

Hon. Catherine S. Callbeck:

Honourable senators, I would like to take a few minutes to close out this inquiry that I have had on the Order Paper for some time. It deals with the eligibility criteria of the Old Age Security Allowance. It is a very simple issue, but it is an important one.

As it stands now, certain low-income seniors are being denied the OAS Allowance under the Old Age Security Program, simply due to marital status.

Under the Old Age Security Program, as it is right now, there are two benefits called “Allowances” available to low-income seniors aged 60 to 64.

For the OAS Allowance, in order to be eligible, a senior must be aged 60 to 64 and his or her spouse must receive the basic OAS pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement. Together they are considered low-income.

The second one is the Allowance for the Survivor. It is designed for widows and widowers aged 60 to 64 who have a low income.

I am happy that we have these two benefits because they have helped many seniors. In total, almost 88,000 seniors benefit from these allowances right now.

However, we have some low-income seniors aged 60 to 64 who cannot even apply for this allowance. If that person has never married or is divorced, he or she is not eligible to apply for the allowance. It creates a very unfair situation. It means that we are treating some seniors differently from others.

We could easily fix this problem by expanding the OAS Allowance for all low-income unattached seniors between the ages of 60 to 64.

CARP, which is a national advocacy group for seniors, once again called for the expansion of this program in its pre-budget submission in 2013. The submission notes that almost 20 per cent of single older women live in poverty, and that unattached older women as a group have one of the highest rates of poverty in Canada.

It is unacceptable that the federal government is excluding one group of low-income people who really need assistance. They are excluded just because they have never been married or they are divorced.

I would urge the federal government to fix the criteria so that everyone in that age group will be treated fairly.

Toil and trouble… then inequality

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Editorial of July 25, 2013:

After toiling through adult life and approaching that freedom 65 (or 60 for the lucky ones), Canadians can take solace in the fact they will finally be rewarded for their labours with a pension and an Old Age Security cheque.

For those who have laboured and paid taxes for 40 or more years, it’s time to get something back. For some, however, this return on their lifetime of work investment does not come so readily or equitably.

Recently in the Senate, P.E.I.’s representative there, Catherine Callbeck, spoke about the fact that single or divorced seniors aged 60 to 64 are not eligible for the Old Age Security allowance, even if they are considered low-income seniors.

Low-income married couples are eligible for this allowance, if one of them is receiving the Old Age pension and guaranteed income supplement. Low-income surviving spouses (aged 60-64) are eligible for the allowance for the survivor.

However, as the senator from Central Bedeque, who frequently champions the cause of senior Canadians, pointed out there is no allowance for single low-income seniors.

This is a flaw in the OAS allowance criteria that should be fixed. The criteria, as it stands, means single or divorced seniors are not eligible to apply for benefits that their married or widowed contemporaries are receiving.

Those single or divorced seniors are more likely to be in need of this allowance, having to rely on only one income while senior couples have two incomes to support one household.

If the OAS allowance goes to widows and widowers, why are those who have never married or are divorced, not eligible to apply for the same allowance? 

“The issue is quite simple,” said Callbeck during the debate in the Senate. “As it stands now, certain low-income seniors are being denied a benefit under the Old Age Security program – the OAS Allowance – simply due to marital status.”

Callbeck promised to continue to press for changes because of the number of Island seniors living below the poverty line who could really use this additional income.

“The fact that some low-income seniors are eligible for a benefit and others are not because of marital status is appalling,” says Callbeck. She’s right.

The federal government should not exclude one group of people from receiving assistance just because they never married or are divorced. That’s discrimination. The senator is right – it must be rectified.