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The racialization of poverty in toronto

If you are a member of a visible minority there is a good chance you live in poverty.

A report released by the City of Toronto in May 2002 entitled “Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto” by Michael Ornstein revealed significant inequality among minority groups based on data from the 1996 Census.

Members of visible minority groups are far more likely to have incomes that fall below the poverty line than those of European ancestry. The report found that fourteen per cent of European families lived below the poverty line, but the percentage was much higher for non-Europeans: 35 per cent for Asians, 45 per cent for Africans, Blacks and Caribbean and 45 per cent for Arabs and West Asians.

Unemployment rates amongst racialized groups were also extremely high. Toronto’s unemployment rate averaged seven per cent, but it was up to six times higher in some groups. For Ghanaians, the unemployment rate was 45 per cent. These numbers clearly indicate that visible minorities are experiencing barriers to employment that isn’t being experienced by those of northern European ancestry.

The report shows that there is socio-economic polarization in Toronto between people of European descent and visible minority communities, but there is also evidence of economic difficulties among some European groups. For example, 29.1 per cent of Serbians and 28 per cent of former Yugoslavians in Toronto lived in poverty.

 

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