Welfare payment schedules, financial hardship and property crime

• In Event: Institutions and Crime: Policy Impacts on Safety, Reintegration, and Civic Participation

Abstract

In this paper, we evaluate the effects of the timing of monthly income and disability assistance payments on property crime in Vancouver. The assistance program in British Columbia intends to pay recipients on the last Wednesday preceding it’s intended month-of-use but requires at least three business days between payday and the first- of-the-month. These rules create variation in the amount of time between assistance payments as well as substantial variation in how early assistance arrives relative to its intended month-of-use. We find more property crimes during longer cycles and when payments are made farther away from the first-of-the-month. Our results suggest that moving payments closer to the first-of-the-month can reduce month-to-month financial hardship and lower property crime.

Author

• Kevin T. T Schnepel, University of Sydney
  Presenting Author