Challenging the Dominant Discourse of ‘Welfare Dependency’: A Multi-episode Survival Analysis of Ontario Works Spells

This dissertation examines the dominant discourse of welfare dependency and its implications for lone mothers in Ontario, Canada. This hegemonic discourse has been instrumental in positioning lone mothers as deviant, pathologically flawed and ineffective citizens. Using a repeated survival analysis, I examine the spells of participants identifying the significant variables influencing social assistance exit rates. Social constructionism and critical feminism are the theoretical lenses underpinning the analysis. The quantitative study examines the current composition of the Ontario Works caseload, interrogates the legitimacy of the welfare dependency supposition, debunks numerous social constructions surrounding welfare receipt and highlights the barriers impeding participants. The study culminates with a new understanding to counter the welfare dependency paradigm, recognizing the overlooked provisioning work of women in the neoliberal post welfare state.Ph