Toronto poverty is highly racialized: York University census study

TORONTO, March 9, 2006 -- Poverty in Toronto is highly racialized, and the 
economic gap between members of European and non-European ethno-racial 
groups has been increasing over the last 30 years, a new study reveals.

All 20 of the poorest ethno-racial groups in the Toronto Census Metropolitan 
Area (CMA) are non-European, according to the study, Ethno-Racial Groups in 
Toronto, 1971-2001: A Demographic and Social Profile, released by the 
Institute for Social Research at York University. The 182-page report is 
based primarily on Statistics Canada's 2001 census, and compares those 
results with censuses of 1996, 1991, 1986, 1981, and 1971.

Extreme poverty is a daily reality for more than half of the members of the 
Bangladeshi, Somali, Afghan, and Ethiopian ethno-racial groups, the 2001 
census reveals. Their family incomes fell below Statistic's Canada's "low 
income cut-off" - the most commonly used standard for measuring poverty in 
Canada. Three groups faced poverty rates of between 40 and 50 per cent, and 
14 other groups, five of them African and including Aboriginals, had poverty 
rates of between 30 and 40 per cent.

"Although every ethno-racial group experiences some poverty, many groups are 
facing extraordinary economic difficulty," says ISR Director Michael 
Ornstein, author of the report. "The magnitude of global differences in 
family income is not decreasing -- quite the opposite."

Some groups face poverty levels that have remained about the same for 30 
years. In 1971, Caribbean ethno-racial groups had 21.7 per cent of their 
members below the poverty line, compared to 25.2 per cent in 1981, 21 per 
cent in 1991, and 22.2 percent in 2001. These statistics alone only begin to 
describe the story. Ornstein notes that "because the low income cut-off 
figure does not account for Toronto's very high housing costs, these 
numbers, if anything, underestimate the extent of poverty."

"As the population from non-European groups in Canada has increased from 
about four per cent in 1971 to about 40 per cent in 2001, the racialization 
of poverty has increased," says Ornstein.

"In our highly individualistic society, we tend to think of poverty as the 
result of bad luck, such as someone losing a job, coping with a family 
breakup, or facing the challenges of immigrating or coming to Toronto from a 
small town. But this research reveals entire communities where the average 
income is very low and many, many people live in poverty," says Ornstein. 
"For groups with 20 or 25 per cent of people below the poverty line, we have 
to think in structural terms: about kids not completing high school, the low 
level of the minimum wage, the expense of good daycare, the problems of 
finding a job that uses their skills and credentials, the very high cost of 
housing and our governments' retreat from social housing over the last 20 
years, and the effects of discrimination."

The census reveals that 40 per cent of African ethno-racial group members 
lived below the poverty line in 2001, compared to about 30 per cent of the 
members of the Arab and East Asian groups, and 20 per cent of the 
Aboriginal, South Asian, East Asian, Caribbean, and South and Central 
American groups. By comparison, only 10 per cent of European group members 
were below the poverty line, and for some European groups the figure was 
only about five per cent.

Substantial differences also exist in the economic situations of 
ethno-racial groups within larger global categories. For example, 53.1 per 
cent of Bangladeshis had incomes below the poverty line in 2001, compared to 
36 per cent for the Pakistani group, about 33 per cent for Tamil and Sri 
Lankan groups, and 15 per cent for the Indian group.  Among Torontonians who 
described themselves as having both South Asian and East Asian or South 
Asian and European ancestry, the poverty rate was about 12 per cent. (The 
average for the entire CMA population is 15 per cent below the poverty 
line.)

The research is based on the detailed information collected every five years 
from the randomly selected one-fifth of all Canadian households who receive 
the "long form" census questionnaire.  In 2001, the CMA population of about 
4.6 million was represented in a sample of approximately 800,000 census 
returns.  The CMA is defined by Statistics Canada as the area in which 
patterns of commuting to work are centered on Toronto. The City of Toronto 
accounts for just over half of the CMA population, which also includes 23 
surrounding municipalities, the largest of which are Brampton, Markham, 
Mississauga, Oakville an! d Vaughan.

For this research, the CMA population was divided into ethno-racial groups 
on the basis of the census question:  "To which ethnic or cultural group(s) 
did your ancestors belong?" (emphasis original.) Most are individual 
nationalities, such as the British, Argentinian and Nigerian groups.  
Smaller groups were consolidated into residual categories, such as "other 
African," and there are also categories for persons with joint ancestry such 
as "South Asian and European."  In total, the study covers 113 ethno-racial 
groups, subdivided into eight global regions, of which 78 are single 
nationalities. The repo! rt also provides detailed information on the 
demographic characteristics of ethno-racial groups, including their 
population growth since 1971, and their age composition, immigration 
language use, education, and employment.

The entire study is available in PDF format at 
http://www.isr.yorku.ca/home.html click on "Ethno-racial Report: 
Ethno-Racial Groups in Toronto."  The Institute for Social Research was 
established by York University in1965.  It houses the largest 
university-based survey research organization in Canada, provides 
statistical consulting, to members of the York community and externally, and 
regular courses in data analysis and survey research, includ! ing the Summer 
Programme in Data Analysis, sponsored by Statistics Canada and the Social 
Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching 
university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the 
undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada's most international 
city. The third largest university! in the country, York is host to a 
dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, 
as well as 180,000 alumni worldwide. York's 10 faculties and 21 research 
centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is 
interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This 
distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future 
and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges.



-30-

-------------------
Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]


To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section -- NOT the subject header --  to [log in to unmask]
SIGNOFF SDOH

DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.

To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.
SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname

To post a message to all 1000+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if relevant.

For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]

To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SET SDOH DIGEST

To view the SDOH archives, go to: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html