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...reasonable, condemning many live in poverty.
The first task we undertake in this Commentary is to demonstrate that the links among income, employment and education levels exist for Aboriginals, as much as for other Canadians. We then proceed to examine in some detail Aboriginal school performance in British Columbia, the one province where available data make an exploration of this link feasible. While our overt focus is on quality, as measured by primary and secondary school Aboriginal test scores, there is an obvious feedback from higher Aboriginal test scores to higher Aboriginal education levels. Those students who perform poorly tend to drop out, and depress overall education levels. In the final section, we generalize from these results, and from the work of others, and assess options for reorganizing off-reserve Aboriginal education in cities.
Income, Employment, and Education Levels
Figure 1 uses data from the 2001 Census to illustrate the relationship between employment and median incomes among selected groups of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 44--those in their prime earning years. (1) Members of this cohort are old enough to have completed most of their education and training, yet are young enough to have benefited from the added emphasis on formal education over the last four decades. The oldest members of this cohort entered school in the early 1960s, the youngest in the early 1980s. The cohort is divided three ways: into six provincial groupings (these are the six provinces having substantial Aboriginal populations); into either Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal groups; and by residence, either on- or off-reserve, for the Aboriginal population. This division creates three categories per province, 18 groups in all.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
The positive link between employment rate and median income is dramatic. It exists within each category, as well as across them. The poorest groups are on-reserve Aboriginals in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Here, median incomes are below $12,000 and employment rates are below 45 percent. Off-reserve Aboriginals enjoy incomes that are between on-reserve median incomes and those of non-Aboriginals. Relative to on-reserve Aboriginals in the Prairies, the average employment rate among non-Aboriginals is double, and average median incomes are two-and-a-half times higher.
In allowing individuals to escape poverty, jobs matter. But to get a good job, education matters more now than in generations past. A century ago, regardless of formal education, many earned good wages in Canada's forests, factories and mines. Such jobs made up a large fraction of the Canadian labour force. In the 21st century, there are proportionately many fewer of these jobs. Aggravating the situation, wage dispersion has risen over the last half century (OECD 1996). Recent Canadian evidence suggests that the dispersion of permanent earnings of workers widened in the 1990s (Beach, Finnie and Gray 2003). Anyone now entering the labour force with limited formal education has few good job opportunities. And the earnings from these jobs will probably be further below average earnings than in decades past. To put this more formally, returns to investment in education rose over the 20th century, particularly over the second half. (2)
The educational premium applies to Aboriginals, as much as it does to others in the labour force. (3) Using the 1996 Census, Figure 2 summarizes 1995 median incomes for Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals across Canada by educational levels. (4) Again, the Aboriginal population is divided into those living on- and off-reserve. As the education level of Aboriginals rises, so do their median incomes.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
Figure 3 shows the relationship between education and income in another way. At each education level, the non-Aboriginal median income is set to 100, and Aboriginal median incomes are adjusted accordingly. This illustrates the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal incomes at each education level. Of course, this gap reflects many factors, in addition to educational levels. To the extent that racial discrimination underlies it, it is encouraging to see the gap decline at higher Aboriginal education levels. The gap also reflects the characteristics of workers. For example, workers with less experience earn less. At all education levels, Aboriginals are on average younger than non-Aboriginals, and have less experience.
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
Among off-reserve Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals--less so among on-reserve Aboriginals--there are effectively three educational steps in Figure 2. The first step-up in terms of increased incomes takes place with completion of high school. A high school graduation certificate is now the minimum qualification for many entry-level jobs. Those aspiring to reasonably well-paying jobs must reach at least the second step, completion of a trade certificate. The third step is completion of a university degree.
A breakdown of income by education level from the 2001 Census is not yet available, but we can still draw some conclusions on the link. Across the 18 defined groups, there is a strong positive overall correlation between the percent that graduate from high school and their employment rate. There is a similar positive correlation with respect to the percent that reach the second step of trade certification. (5) Given this positive correlation, the conclusion that can be drawn from Figure 4 is not surprising: Education level (as measured by the percent of each group that have a high school graduation certificate or higher) is positively correlated with median income.
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
The explanation for the education-income link is probably twofold. First, as education levels rise in any group, those working realize on average higher incomes. Second, a higher education level increases the employment rate, which also raises the group median income. The higher income jobs available to those achieving higher education levels increase the probable reward from work relative to the income available from non-work options, such as social assistance. As Figure 4 illustrates, while the link is weaker among on-reserve Aboriginals, the positive education-to-income link exists within each category: for Aboriginals on-and off-reserve and for non-Aboriginals. While, the positive link is low among on-reserve Aboriginals.
Several years ago, the Auditor General documented the glacial rate of improvement of on-reserve education outcomes. The report admonished the federal Department of Indian Affairs on "the need to articulate its role in education, to develop and use appropriate performance measures and to improve operational performance" (Canada 2000, 4-5). This admonition is still relevant. The Auditor General's comments apply with equal force to provincially provided education for Aboriginals. According to the 2001 Census, only 31 percent of all Canadian Aboriginals now live on-reserve (down from 33 percent in 1996); 20 percent live in rural off-reserve areas (unchanged from 1996), and 49 percent live in urban areas (up from 47 percent in 1996). Among the Aboriginal population that identify as Indian--as opposed to Metis or Inuit--over half now live off-reserve, and almost a quarter live in urban areas (Canada 2003). (6) Many on-reserve Indian children attend nearby off-reserve schools under provincial jurisdiction. Although there are honourable exceptions--some of which we later discuss--local school boards and provincial education ministries have treated Aboriginal schooling outcomes as a low priority. With the exception of British Columbia, they are not adequately documenting the extent of the problem.
In assessing the income-employment-education links, we have summarized education attainment primarily by the percentage having graduated from high school. It is worth looking more comprehensively at the education levels among on- and off-reserve Aboriginals and comparing them with those of non-Aboriginals. The nation-wide education profiles in Figure 5 are derived from the 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (Canada 2003). Among the Aboriginal Canadian population 15 years and older living on-reserve, 41.4 percent have a high school graduation certificate and above; 34.5 percent possess a high school certificate, as well as some postsecondary education, and 23.8 percent possess a trade certificate and above. The final education level in Figure 5a is a university degree, an education level realized by 2.3 percent of the on-reserve Aboriginal population. Figure 5a also illustrates the comparable profiles for 15-year and older off-reserve Aboriginals and for non-Aboriginals.
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
Figure 5b focuses only on the 25-to-44 age cohort, the age groups analyzed above. The first observation is that educational attainment is higher than among the larger cohort, including all adults over age 15. That is the good news. The not-so-good news is that the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal educational profiles do not appear to be converging. For example, among non-Aboriginal Canadians 15 and older, 69.2 percent have graduated from high school. Among the analogous Aboriginal-identity population (both on- and off-reserve), 52.0 percent graduated from high school, for a gap of 17.2 percentage points. Among those aged 25-to-44, the gap is 17.9 percentage points (82.9 percent for non-Aboriginals less 65.0 percent for Aboriginals).
Registered Indians have a choice that other Aboriginals do not: to live either on- or off-reserve. If they choose to live on-reserve, they can obviously participate more readily in the cultural life of their tribe. Furthermore, because of the shortage of well-paying local jobs on or near most reserves, formal education is of less importance in terms of income generation than for their off-reserve relatives. This self-selection dynamic probably contributes to the weak link between education level and median income among on-reserve Aboriginal groups (Figure 4).
Currently, the price to live on-reserve is lower incomes and education prospects for children. The median on-reserve income among Indian-identity Aboriginals in the 25-to-44 year old cohort for 2000 was $13,700. The comparable statistic for off-reserve Indians is $18,000, a third higher. The youngest cohort for which we have Census education data is made up of those 15-to-24. This group tells us something about education prospects for the next generation, although the evidence is obviously incomplete. Many are still in school. In terms of high school graduation within this age cohort, the gap between on- and off-reserve Indians is 13.1 percentage points (37.4 percent for off-reserve less 24.0 percent for on-reserve Indians) (Canada 2003).
Even if many adult Indians choose to live on-reserve and forgo more remunerative employment elsewhere, education levels remain an important determinant of whether children can realistically choose, when the time comes, between an on- or off-reserve lifestyle. The minimum education prerequisite to render off-reserve income prospects reasonable is high school graduation.
If, as its first Throne Speech promises, the Paul Martin government is to bring more coherence to Aboriginal policy, improved Aboriginal education must be a higher priority than in recent years. This raises a constitutional matter. Off-reserve, education is unambiguously under provincial jurisdiction. Bringing coherence to Aboriginal policy also requires engagement by the provinces.
Without violating provincial jurisdiction, Ottawa can be effective in advancing Aboriginal education. The Prime Minister can use the bully pulpit of first ministers' meetings to advance the education issue and persuade his provincial colleagues to commit themselves to more ambitious Aboriginal education targets. Over the last several years,...
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