Racialization of Poverty in the Welfare System

Racialization of Poverty in the Canadian Welfare System Name Institutional Affiliation Course Title Instructor Date Racialization of Poverty in the Canadian Welfare System Introduction Canada is a multi-ethnic country made up of more than 250 different ethnic groups. The bigger chunk (more than 80%) of these is made of whites, while the rest, people of colour, are often referred to as the visible minority or racialized communities ("2016 Census Highlights: Factsheet 9", 2018). The visible minority also include indigenous people of Canada together with other immigrants into the country. Throughout the history of Canada, people of colour have always faced unfair discrimination in most aspects of their lives. Additionally, there are numerous barriers in the labour market, which prevent people of colour from finding decent employment in Canada and thus destining them to a life of poverty. This discrimination is also deeply entrenched in the Canadian welfare system. The most affected by this discrimination based on colour are women and children. This paper aims to explore how the racialization of poverty in the welfare system works to marginalize minority groups. Minority groups are often stigmatized, and public opinions about providing social assistance to these groups are often skewed and not in favour of social assistance programs assisting them. This paper will use statistical data to exemplify the negative implications this has on families, especially women and children, it will implore the use of scholarly journals to backup ideologies and claims. Racialized Canadians Canada is experiencing significant demographic shifts, and especially in urban centers. According to the 2016 census report, Canada is currently home to more than 250 ethnic groups ("2016 Census Highlights: Factsheet 9", 2018). Currently, about 1 out of every six people in Canada is from a community of colour ("Just the Facts | Canada Without Poverty", 2018). This growing number of ‘colored’ Canadians belong to a group known as ‘racialized communities,' a term that has replaced ‘visible minorities' or ‘ethnocultural communities.' Women and children make up half of the racialized group and are most prone to poverty. This is because of various political, social and economic issues. For example, women are most prone to domestic violence (partner and family) leading them to homelessness as they also form the biggest chunk of unemployed people in Canada. According to the 2016 census data, it is clear that racialized Canadians have the desire to work. However, the barriers that prevented them from finding work in 2005 are still in place. The data shows that racialized Canadians form 16% of the Canadian population. The data illustrates a labour force participation rate of 66.5% for racialized Canadians compared to 64.8% for non-racialized Canadians (Block, 2017). This is a clear reflection of a willingness to work by racialized Canadians. However, 9.2% of Canadians of colour were unemployed in 2016 while white Canadians had an unemployment rate of 7.3%. The unemployment rate gap has slightly decreased from the 2005 gap (Block, 2017). However, this is because of the increased unemployment of white Canadians, not because of increased employment for the racialized group. All communities of colour had a higher unemployment rate than whites except those of Japanese and Filipino descent (Block, 2017). Regarding individual communities, there was a significant variation in the unemployment rates. For example, the unemployment rate for Canadians of Arab descent was 85% higher than for whites, that of blacks was 71% higher compared to that of whites, in contrast, Chinese Canadians had an unemployment rate of 8% higher than that of Canadians (Block, 2017). These are significant variations in the unemployment rates and are consistent with the data from the 2006 census. This means that not much has been done to alleviate barriers in the labour market for racialized Canadians. Deconstructing the data by gender gives us insights into the various ways through which race interacts with gender. The census data shows that women of colour had the uppermost rate of unemployment at 9.6% (Block, 2018). They were followed by racialized men who had an unemployment rate of 8.8%. White women had an unemployment rate of 6.4%, less than that white, men at 8.2%. Racialized women, therefore, continue to face greater challenges in the labour market. These barriers in the labour market impact income disparity. Earlier Census data illustrates that the income gap in Canada is widening. According to the data from 2015, the average total income for Canadians of colour was 74% that of white Canadians, an income disparity of 26%, compared to 25% in 2005 (Block, 2017). This is further indication that little has been done to remove the barriers that racialized Canadians face in search of decent employment leading them to poverty. Canada is generally viewed as one of the most equitable countries in the world. Canadians have always viewed their social welfare policies such as those of healthcare, education and other types of government to citizen support as more approachable fair and impartial (Raphael, 2009). However, the income inequality gap between the wealthy and the poor in Canada has been consistently widening over the past few decades. An illustration of this widening gap can be seen in Ontario where the Ontario Works Act 1997 made acceptable the increased surveillance, regulation and control of poor families thereby formulating a new form of surveillance in an attempt to decrease fraud attempts and workfare (Maki, 2011). However, the Act backfired in that it only made racialized mothers more vulnerable. In fact, despite the Canadian economy experiencing considerable growth before 2008, close to half of Ontario families experienced stagnant or diminished income since the turn of the millennium (Maki, 2011). In another report, between 1976 and 2009, the richest 20% of Canadians experienced approximately 27.5% rise in their real market income while the remaining 80% experienced an average of 7.9% decrease in their real market income (Action Task Force, 2014). This shows that the rich are generally amassing more wealth while the rest are becoming poorer. The fact that there was a part of the population that was able to advance economically is an indication that the economy is functional as it is creating wealth, however, that only a certain part of the population is benefitting indicates a more complex issue – unequal distribution. One of the major factors that have been contributing to and even intensifying unequal distribution is government policies which have decreased taxes for the rich, effectively enabling them to accumulate more wealth, while simultaneously reducing public and social spending on services and programs that are aimed at ensuring equity such as education, healthcare, etc. The result of these policies has been the polarization of wealth creating two extremes in society. On the one end, the wealth of the rich has been alleviated and their opportunity secured, on the latter end, the common citizen has been left exposed to poverty (O’Connell, 2013). It’s not all bad however, Curry-Stevens points out that thousands of children have been moved above the poverty line due to the government’s contribution increase by 50 percent. They have done this by implementing programs such as the Canada Child Tax Benefit/National Child Benefit Supplement (CCTB/NCB) and the Child Disability Benefit. These contributions have helped to reduce child poverty, especially for single parent households. However, in the hopes of maintaining universality, these benefits are also given to those individuals in the highest income quintile, adding to their accumulative wealth. The problem then falls to the unequal distribution of wealth which creates an income gap and income inequality. As the gap gets wider, needs increase, prompting governments to attempt to respond. The issue of poverty becomes more compounded when the race is factored into the equation because racialized people in Canada are at the highest risk of Canada. According to a 2016 survey, 1 in every five racialized Canadian family is living in poverty compared to 1 in every 20 for non-racialized families illuminating a variance of 4 times the rate of poverty. The same survey also adds that racialized women earn 32% less at work and that they were approximately twice as likely to get employment in the manufacturing industry that non-racialized women (...