“This is the System We Live in”: The Role of Social Assistance in Producing and Sustaining 2SLGBTQ+ Poverty in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Abstract Introduction This article reports on qualitative research findings from the first study to examine 2SLGBTQ+ populations’ experiences with social assistance (SocA) in Ontario, the most populous province in Canada. Using a relational poverty and intersectional framework, the role of the SocA system in producing and sustaining 2SLGBTQ+ poverty is articulated by exploring 2SLGBTQ+ encounters with SocA and inter-related systems. Methods This qualitative study was informed by principles of community-based participatory research and theoretically driven thematic analysis. The study was carried out in partnership between academic researchers and three community organizations that support and advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ people and/or people living in poverty. Qualitative data were collected from February to June 2022. Results Key themes articulate how 2SLGBTQ+ encounters with the SocA system produce and sustain their poverty: (1) navigating a precarious and nebulous system; (2) encountering the construction of 2SLGBTQ+ identities as “irrelevant” in normative systems; and (3) intersecting systemic, interpersonal, and micro violences. Collectively, the themes focus on systemic factors that institutionalize poverty for 2SLGBTQ+ people. Conclusions Power relations in the SocA system and other related systems such as employment and housing intersect to produce and sustain 2SLGBTQ+ poverty. The production and sustenance of 2SLGBTQ+ poverty are dynamic and transactional, as restrictive and punitive neoliberal policies, dominant power hierarchies, and normative discursive violence within these systems fuse into material inequities and harmful spaces for diverse 2SLGBTQ+ people. Policy Implications Findings call for an intersectional and 2SLGBTQ+ affirming SocA system and inter-related systems that have the potential to mitigate 2SLGBTQ+ intersectional discrimination and related poverty producing and sustaining forces.