Evaluation of the Legal Aid Program
Appendix E: Method for Comparison of Financial Eligibility Guidelines with Economic Indicators
Method for Comparison of Financial Eligibility Guidelines with Economic Indicators
The following method was used to calculate the legal aid financial eligibility guidelines (FEGs) percentage change between 2010 and 2015 for each available province:
- Eligibility guidelines for a family size of four and one were used.
- Calculated as: [(FEG2015 – FEG2010) / FEG2010] * 100, where FEG2010 = the respective province’s FEG in 2010 for a family of four or one and FEG2015 = the respective provinces FEG in 2015 for a family of four or one.
Although many provincial FGEs were provided as family sizes ranging from one to seven or more, some guidelines were provided differently. Below is a list of decisions for the guidelines that were presented differently:
- Saskatchewan 2015 – provided guidelines based on a family with number of children where family could include a single or two-parent family. Only a family with four children was available for 2010, so a family size of six was used for the calculation in Figure 8, assuming a two-parent family.
- Ontario 2010 and 2015 – provided a family size range from 1 to 4+. 4+ was used for the family size of four calculation in Figure 9.
- Quebec and Nova Scotia – Provided guidelines separated by number of adults and number of children. Therefore, two values would be provided for a family of four: one for a single parent with three children and one for a two-parent family with two children. In each case, the higher of the two guidelines was selected, which in all cases ended up being the two parent with two children values.
The inflation rate for each province was calculated as follows:
- Inflation rate = [(CICP2015 – CICP2010) / CICP2010] * 100
Where CICP2010 = the average 2010 CICP for the respective province and CICP2015 = the average 2015 CICP for the respective province.
The percentage change in the real wage (RWAGE) for each province was calculated as follows:
- ΔRWAGE = [(RWAGE2015 – RWAGE2010) / RWAGE2010] * 100
Where ΔRWAGE = the percentage change in the real wage for the respective province, RWAGE2010 = the average 2010 real wage for the respective province, and RWAGE2015 = the average 2015 real wage for the respective province.
The percentage change in the minimum wage (MWAGE) for each province was calculated as follows:
- ΔMWAGE = [(MWAGE2015 = MWAGE2010) / MWAGE2010] * 100
Where ΔMWAGE = the percentage change in the minimum wage for the respective province, MWAGE2010 = the minimum wage for the respective province as of January 1, 2010, and MWAGE2015 = the minimum wage for the respective province as of December 31, 2015.
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