Between Protection and Activation: People with Disabilities in the Social Investment State

Federal and provincial employment and income policies in the field of disability within the evolution of Quebec’s welfare state are reviewed from the analytical perspective of the social investment state. The use of the social investment state concept allows the authors to reflect on the paradoxes associated with the demands of the disability movement and the responses of the state. The authors demonstrate that the logic of social investment and activation of the workforce yielded gains consistent with the disability movement’s claims, allowing people with disabilities to use their potential and find fulfillment in the labor market while often improving their financial conditions. However, it is argued that the social investment perspective offers a less suitable response for those permanently excluded from the labor market, especially Social Solidarity Program recipients who benefit only from meager financial protection. While early impact analyses of measures designed to equalize opportunities and activate the workforce do not really show the expected results, the latest statistics available for people with disabilities reflect moderate, but tangible results in terms of reducing the number of members of a household living beneath the low-income cut-off and increasing the employment rate for persons with disabilities.