If you’re young, an immigrant or member of a racialized group, the odds are growing that your paycheque is less than your neighbours, according to a new United Way Greater Toronto report.
According to Rebalancing the Opportunity Equation, the growing income gap in York, Toronto, and Peel is hitting young people, immigrants and racialized groups the hardest.
While our communities have embraced diversity as our strength, the findings reveal that deep divides are undermining that premise and the reality is a growing gap between the haves and have nots.
“Rebalancing the Opportunity Equation reveals that the promise of diversity and opportunity that we tell ourselves — and sell to the world — doesn’t reflect today’s GTA,” said United Way Greater Toronto president Daniele Zanotti.
“Increasingly, it’s the things you can’t change that determine if you’re going to fall into poverty.”
The non-profit agency examined census data, including income trends over the past 35 years and the income gap between young people, immigrants, racialized groups and the rest of the population in Peel, Toronto and York regions.
The findings paint a stark picture of who has access to opportunities to succeed — and who does not.
Young adults are more disadvantaged today than ever before, according to the report.
“Young people are starting off behind the eight ball,” said Clovis Grant, CEO of 360kids, a York Region agency that works with young people in crisis.
The finding that young adults are becoming poorer has long been evident to Grant, whose agency works with marginalized youth who battle additional “layers” of challenges — including belonging to a racialized group or being newcomers to Canada, as well as poverty and mental illness.
“The report’s findings were not a surprise — that’s the work we do, we’ve known this for many years,” said Grant, who collaborated with the United Way on the report. “But it will help the general public see how these issues make our society weaker. Raising awareness is one of the biggest things we have to do.”
It is his hope that by bringing awareness to the challenges facing the people of our community, more solutions will be brought to the table — and more voices saying “we care” will be heard.
“These are not issues that are top of mind. Poverty, homelessness, race, these are issues that people are struggling with, and it’s not just a big city Toronto issue.”
In fact, according to the report’s data, young people in York Region are worse off than their counterparts in the city, Grant added.
Key Findings:
According to the report, young adults are more disadvantaged today than ever before:
- Young adults are becoming poorer. In real terms, a young person aged 25 to 34 in the GTA is earning less today than a young person in 1980.
- In York Region, their incomes decreased by 21 per cent from $51,900 in 1990 to $41,000 in 2015.
- For every dollar a mid-aged person in a permanent, full-time job in York earns, a young person in the same form of employment in York earns 64.7 cents.
- That income gap is an average of 13 cents greater than it was in 1980: it’s growing and young people are starting further behind.
In the GTA, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in Canada — the fact that you weren’t born here means that you are earning less, the United Way found:
- Immigrants, regardless of their years of residency in Canada, have become poorer over time. On average, immigrants in the GTA today are making less than immigrants did in 1980.
- For every one dollar a Canadian-born person in permanent, full-time work earns, an immigrant in Canada for 10 years or more in the same form of work earns 82.2 cents in York Region.
- The income gap between employed immigrants and the Canadian-born population has grown. While in 1980 they had similar incomes, an immigrant living in Canada for more than 20 years today in the GTA is making a similar or lower income than a Canadian-born person was in 1980.
- York Region immigrants who have been in Canada for 10 to 19 years earned $56,000 in 1980 and only $45,500 in 2015.
“The growth of income inequality is undermining the promise that ‘diversity is our strength’ — and that’s a problem. For a region to be great, it needs to be great for everyone,” said Zanotti.
Also, the report highlights that the racial divide has reached a historic high:
- Racialized groups have become poorer over time. Incomes for racialized groups have not increased in 35 years.
- The income gap between racialized and white groups has increased over time. For every dollar a white person in the GTA earns, a racialized person takes home on average 69 cents.
“Rising income inequality leads to a deeply divided region where different groups of people do not have enough meaningful encounters with people unlike themselves. By strengthening the connections in our region, we will move toward an inclusive prosperity that makes our region a better place to live for everyone,” said Michelynn Laflèche, vice-president, strategy, research and policy for United Way Greater Toronto.
The report also outlines 12 recommendations that all sectors can act on to ensure that everyone can participate in society, that more people can get ahead, and that everyday costs like childcare and housing are more affordable.
Read Rebalancing the Opportunity Equation at unitedwaygt.org/research-and-reports.
“The time is now to rebalance the opportunity equation, harness all the talent our region has to offer, and make the GTA work for everyone,” Zanotti said.
