Health Inequities in Manitoba: Is the Socioeconomic Gap

Chapter 4: Child Health
56 University of Manitoba
• The disparity between R1 and R5 showed an absolute increase but no relative change. The rate ratio
of R1 compared to R5 was 0.63 in the first time period and 0.60 in the last time period, indicating
stability in the rate ratio between R1 and R5 over time. The absolute difference gap of high school
completion comparing R1 to R5 statistically significantly increased by 19% over time. R1 had around
28 per 100 fewer high school graduates than R5 in the first time period. By the last time period, there
were around 34 per 100 fewer graduates in R1 compared to R5.
Urban:
• From T1 to T7, the high school completion rates of urban neighbourhood income quintile groups U2
to U5 fluctuated but showed slight increases over time. For U1, the lowest neighbourhood income
quintile group, the rate showed a slight decrease over time.
• The disparity between U1 and U5 increased significantly. The rate ratio of U1 compared to U5 was
0.61 in the first time period and 0.56 in the last time period, for a statistically significant increase in
inequality of 8%. The absolute difference in high school completion rates comparing U1 to U5 went
from –34.67 in the first time period to –41.07, a statistically significant increase of 18%, representing
around 35 per 100 fewer high school graduates in the first time period compared to 41 fewer
graduates per 100 in the last time period.
Lorenz Curves:
Rural over time:
• In the first time period T1, 12.9% of the high school graduates were in the 18.5% of the population in
the lowest neighbourhood income quintile group R1, with the Gini coefficient of 0.069 indicating a
statistically significant disparity.
• In the last time period T7, 13.9% of the high school graduates were in the 19.9% of the population in
the lowest neighbourhood income quintile group R1, with the Gini coefficient of 0.079 indicating a
statistically significant disparity.
• The Gini coefficient did not change significantly from first to the last time period, suggesting stability
in inequality over that time period.
Urban over time:
• In the first time period T1, 11.3% of the high school graduates were in the 15.8% of the population in
the lowest neighbourhood income quintile group U1, with the Gini coefficient of 0.089 indicating a
statistically significant disparity.
• In the last time period T7, 11.0% of the high school graduates were in the 16.5% of the population in
the lowest neighbourhood income quintile group U1, with the Gini coefficient of 0.098 indicating a
statistically significant disparity.
• The Gini coefficient was not statistically significantly different over the two time points, indicating
that the inequality in high school completion stayed similar over time in the urban areas.
Rural compared to urban in most recent time period:
• In the most recent time period T7, there was a statistically similar Gini coefficient in rural compared
to urban (0.079 vs. 0.098), indicating a similar level of inequality in both rural and urban Manitoba for
high school completion rates.