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.
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