Impact of Alternative Income Assistance Payment Schedules on Health and Social Service Access in Canada: Evidence from an Experimental Study

Abstract

Despite mitigating the severe impacts of poverty, synchronized, monthly government income assistance payments can negatively impact people who use drugs, including disrupting service utilization. This study evaluates whether changing payment timing and frequency impacts health and social service access. This secondary analysis of an exploratory, parallel, unblinded, randomized controlled trial assessed data collected between 2015–2019 from income assistance recipients who use drugs in British Columbia, Canada (n = 194). Participants were randomly assigned for six monthly payment cycles to: (a) synchronized government schedules (control); (b) desynchronized “staggered” single monthly payments; or (c) desynchronized “split & staggered” twice-monthly payments. Generalized linear mixed models assessed utilization of, and barriers to, acute/emergency healthcare, community healthcare, psychosocial services and material/legal services. Mixed results showed increases in access to psychosocial services and material/legal services, but also increases in the barriers to community healthcare and material/legal services. Changing payment schedules may alter access to services in complex ways implicating practice, organizational and interagency adaptations for marginalized populations. Results support the importance of social service agency involvement in income assistance policy reform discussions to ensure effective service delivery. Further research should include perspectives from service providers and utilize agency administration data to better understand payment schedules and service provision dynamics.