An Assessment of EI and SA Reporting in SLID - ARCHIVED
Articles and reports: 11F0019M2001166
This study assesses two potential problems with respect to the reporting of Employment Insurance (EI) and Social Assistance (SA) benefits in the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID): (a) under-reporting of the monthly number of beneficiaries; and (b) a tendency to incorrectly report receiving benefits throughout the year, while in fact benefits may have been received only in certain months, leading to artificial spikes in the January starts and December terminations of benefit spells (seam effect). The results of the analysis show the following:
(1) The rate of under-reporting of EI in SLID is about 15%. Although it varies by month (from 0% to 30%), it is fairly stable from year to year.
(2) There are significant spikes in the number of January starts and December terminations of EI benefit spells. However, the spikes in January starts appear to represent a real phenomenon, rather than a seam problem. They mirror closely the pattern of establishment of new EI claims (the latter increase significantly in January as a result of the decline in employment following the Christmas peak demand). There are no corresponding statistics for EI claim terminations to assess the nature of December spikes.
(3) The rate of under-reporting of SA in SLID is about 50%, significantly greater than for EI. The rate of under-reporting goes down to about 20% to 30%, if we assume that those who received SA, but did not report in which months they received benefits, received benefits throughout the year.
(4) There are large spikes in the number of January starts and December terminations. As in the case of EI, the SA could reflect a real phenomenon. After all, SA starts and terminations are affected by labour market conditions, in the same way EI starts and terminations are affected. However, the SA spikes are much larger than the EI spikes, which increases the probability that, at least in part, are due to a seam effect.
Main Product: Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series
Format | Release date | More information |
---|---|---|
September 11, 2001 |
Related information
Related products
Analysis
- Articles and reports: A Tale of Three Cities: The Dynamics of Manufacturing in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, 1976-1997
- Articles and reports: Are the Kids All Right? Intergenerational Mobility and Child Well-being in Canada
- Articles and reports: Differences in Interprovincial Productivity Levels
- Articles and reports: Dynamics of the Canadian Manufacturing Sector in Metropolitan and Rural Regions
- Articles and reports: Female Employment Rates and Labour Market Attachment in Rural Canada
- Articles and reports: Impact of the Adoption of Advanced Information and Communication Technologies on Firm Performance in the Canadian Manufacturing Sector
- Articles and reports: Impediments to Advanced Technology Adoption for Canadian Manufacturers
- Articles and reports: In Search of Intergenerational Credit Constraints Among Canadian Men: Quantile Versus Mean Regression Tests for Binding Credit Constraints
- Articles and reports: Income Prospects of British Columbia University Graduates
- Articles and reports: Innovation and Connectivity: The Nature of Market Linkages and Innovation Networks in Canadian Manufacturing Industries
- Articles and reports: Intergenerational Influences on the Receipt of Unemployment Insurance in Canada and Sweden
- Articles and reports: Job Tenure, Worker Mobility and the Youth Labour Market During the 1990s
- Articles and reports: Payroll Taxes in Canada Revisited: Structure, Policy Parameters and Recent Trends
- Articles and reports: School Performance of the Children of Immigrants in Canada, 1994-98
- Articles and reports: Skill Shortages and Advanced Technology Adoption
- Articles and reports: The Effects of Inter-provincial Mobility on Individuals' Earnings: Panel Model Estimates for Canada
- Articles and reports: The Impact of International Trade on the Wages of Canadians
- Articles and reports: The Persistent Gap: New Evidence on the Canadian Gender Wage Gap
- Articles and reports: Training as a Human Resource Strategy: The Response to Staff Shortages and Technological Change
- Articles and reports: Which Firms Have High Job Vacancy Rates in Canada?
Subjects and keywords
Subjects
Keywords
- Date modified: