Kaitlyn Layden on ending disability discrimination in social assistance and housing in New Brunswick [video]

On April 12, 2022, disability rights advocate Kaitlyn Layden spoke about her activism to axe New Brunswick’s Household Income Policy (HIP). According to Layden, the policy discriminates against social assistance recipients who live with a disability. Denial of financial and family autonomy has specific implications for social assistance recipients with disabilities who have had to continue to fight for reproductive justice, including the ability to marry and parent with dignity. She spoke about New Brunswick’s version of the “no spouse in the house” rule and how it affects her and many others across the province. The talk is now available for viewing here:

Kaitlyn Layden is a disability rights advocate from Saint John. Her advocacy efforts include telling the public how the province’s Household Income Policy (HIP) affects social assistance recipients who live with a disability.

Since 2020, Layden has written a series of disability awareness articles for NB Media Co-op, and in July she became a primary organizer of Axe The HIP, a letter writing campaign that resulted in more than 200 letters being sent to provincial representatives asking for the Household Income Policy to be axed.

Layden regularly appears in the media providing insightful commentary on issues of concern for people with disabilities and she engages the public and politicians through her work with the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities. In December, she was awarded one of Ability New Brunswick’s 65th Anniversary Commemorative Medals. On February 8, Layden was recognized as one of 25 Women of Influence in Canada, alongside Cindy Blackstock and others.

This lecture was part of the Human Rights & the Media Lecture Series hosted by the Atlantic Human Rights Centre, St. Thomas University’s Department of Human Rights, St. Thomas University’s Department of Journalism and Communications, the NB Media Co-op and RAVEN.

For more information, contact Tracy Glynn at tglynn@stu.ca.