Ethno-Racial Inequality in the City of Toronto: An Analysis of the ...

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IntroductionThis Report provides detailed descriptions of the socio-economic situations of 89 ethno-racial groups withat least 2,500 members in the City of Toronto. Using the 1996 Canadian Census, the goal is to identifygroups experiencing significant disadvantage in education, employment and income. For education, thefocus is on the attainment of adults between 25 and 64 and on the attainment and school enrollment ofyouth. For employment, the measures include the rates of labour force participationand unemployment,the percentage of part-time work, the extent of and income from self-employment, the distribution ofoccupations, and the median employment income, with separate figures for women and men and foryouth and adult unemployment. The incidence of poverty and median incomes, for families and forindividuals living on their own, are used to measure the standard of living of ethno-racial groups.Chapter 1 shows how ethno-racial groups were identified from the 1996 Census. This is notstraightforward because the Census allows ethno-racial groups to be defined in a variety of ways andbecause it is necessary to classify the large number of people, about one third of the population, who givemore than one answer to the Census question about their ancestry. This chapter also provides thedemographic characteristics of ethno-racial groups in Toronto, including their age distributions, theproportion of immigrants and when they came to Canada, knowledge of English and French, and thelanguage spoken at home.The next three chapters deal with education, employment and income. Periods of highunemployment and rapid industrial restructuring may have weakened the link between educationalcredentials and good jobs, but formal education is still a good predictor of occupational success, even ifsome employers use educational qualifications only as a short-cut to avoid assessing the skills ofapplicants. In the absence of a large-scale direct study of literacy in Toronto, formal education alsoprovides a useful, albeit imperfect, measure of literacy. It is likely that the success of ethno-racial groupsin obtaining resources partly depends on the organizational resources and leadership provided by theirmore highly educated members.Additional analysis focusses on the levels of post-secondary school enrollment of young peoplebetween 20 and 24 and on the educational attainment of those no longer in school.Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto: Analysis of the 1996 Censusvii
Although many people return to school after working for some time, a person’s education at the timewhen she or he first enters the labour force is a strong predictor of later occupational success.Chapter 3 deals with two aspects of employment: having work is measured by the rate of “labourforce participation,” the rate of unemployment and the extent of part- and full-time work; and the qualityof work is measured by the distribution of occupations, self-employment and employment income. Sinceevery aspect of employment is affected by gender, separate figures are presented for women and men.Chapter 4 deals with the incomes of families and individuals living on their own. Livingarrangements strongly affect a person’s standard of living, mainly because most individuals do not earnenough to live well on their own. Lone parents must care for themselves and their children, often on oneincome. For this reason, separate income figures are reported for different types of families, for childrenin different types of families, and for “unattached” individuals living on their own, with unrelated peopleand with relatives. The tables and charts give the incidence of poverty, using Statistics Canada’s “lowincome cut-off” or LICO, and median income levels.In the concluding chapter, the analyses of education, employment and income are combined, inorder to identify ethno-racial groups in Toronto experiencing the most serious disadvantage. Alsoaddressed is the question of which ethno-racial categories are appropriate for understanding patterns ofsocio-economic differentiation, and especially serious deprivation. The key issue is how to draw linesthat avoid crude distinctions, for example between a majority and a “visible minority,” while stillgeneralizing beyond individual ethno-racial groups with unique histories. The Chapter also provides abrief comparison of these 1996 data to the results of an earlier analysis of the 1991 Census, thoughchanges in the questions used in the Census (detailed in the next Chapter) make exact comparisonsimpossible. The improvement in overall economic conditions between 1991 and 1996 is not likely tohave favoured particular ethno-racial groups. But we can hope for an improvement in the positions ofethno-racial groups whose situation in 1991 appeared to reflect traumatic circumstances, particularlyarrival from a country at war or experiencing economic distress. The chapter concludes with suggestionsfor further research using the 1996 Census.Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto: Analysis of the 1996 Census 2
Page 6 and 7: origin, South Asians, Arab and West
Page 8 and 9: Table of ContentsExecutive Summary.
Page 12 and 13: Methodological NotesThis Report pro
Page 14 and 15: Chapter 1Defining Ethno-Racial Grou
Page 16 and 17: question, described above. The “C
Page 18 and 19: “Barbadians.” Likewise, people
Page 20 and 21: acial identification question, redu
Page 22 and 23: Table 1, continuedEthno-Racial Grou
Page 24 and 25: percentage of a group has the need.
Page 26 and 27: ARAB AND WEST ASIAN ORIGINSApproxim
Page 28 and 29: EUROPEAN ORIGIN GROUPS TEND TO BE O
Page 30 and 31: The key question involves the numbe
Page 32 and 33: Table 2, continuedPercentage and Nu
Page 34 and 35: A second policy concern involves th
Page 36 and 37: NON-NATIONAL, “RACIAL” AND MULT
Page 38 and 39: Table 3, continuedKnowledge of Engl
Page 40 and 41: majority of people speak English. T
Page 42 and 43: Fully 96.1 percent of Torontonians
Page 44 and 45: Chapter 2EducationIf educational cr
Page 46 and 47: Table 4, continuedHighest Level of
Page 48 and 49: Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto:
Page 50 and 51: Educational Attainment of AdultsAbo
Page 52 and 53: EUROPEAN ORIGINAmong Europeans, edu
Page 54 and 55: GROUPS WITH HIGHER PROPORTIONS OF N
Page 56 and 57: Table 5, continuedSchool Attendance
Page 58 and 59: Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto:
Page 60 and 61:
Of most concern are the small numbe
Page 62 and 63:
Not counted as unemployed are “di
Page 64 and 65:
Table 6, continuedLabour Force Char
Page 66 and 67:
Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto:
Page 68 and 69:
percent for the African, Black and
Page 70 and 71:
LATIN AMERICAN ORIGINSThe two Latin
Page 72 and 73:
Table 7, continuedIncome from Emplo
Page 74 and 75:
efore coming to Canada likely refle
Page 76 and 77:
Table 8a, continuedOccupations of W
Page 78 and 79:
Table 8bOccupations of Men by Ethno
Page 80 and 81:
Table 8b, continuedOccupations of M
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
eing an employee; just 3.2 percent
Page 86 and 87:
Table 9, continuedIncidence of Self
Page 88 and 89:
AFRICAN, BLACK AND CARIBBEAN ORIGIN
Page 90 and 91:
esult in similar levels of income.
Page 92 and 93:
Among the individual ethno-racial g
Page 94 and 95:
Chapter 4Poverty and Individual and
Page 96 and 97:
Introduction to the TablesThe first
Page 98 and 99:
Table 10, continuedIncidence of Pov
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Table 11, continuedIncidence of Chi
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
types of families are not an intuit
Page 108 and 109:
children and 12.8 percent of Arab/W
Page 110 and 111:
Table 12, continuedIncidence of Pov
Page 112 and 113:
Southeast Asians and Pacific Island
Page 114 and 115:
Table 13, continuedMedian Family In
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Table 14, continuedMedian Individua
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
SOUTH ASIAN ORIGINSWhile just over
Page 124 and 125:
LATIN AMERICAN ORIGINSDue to statis
Page 126 and 127:
There are remarkable ethno-racial d
Page 128 and 129:
Table 15, continuedHome Ownership o
Page 130 and 131:
percent of Italian families own the
Page 132 and 133:
The most severe disadvantage affect
Page 134 and 135:
Men in Lower SkillJobs(Table 8b/Cha
Page 136 and 137:
which included all other African na
Page 138 and 139:
In Lower Skill Non-Manual Occupatio
Page 140 and 141:
skilled non-manual occupations in 1
Page 142:
segregation, the effects of unequal
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