Aboriginal Labour Force Participation in Canada: Consideration of a Broader Definition of Capital

1. Aboriginal Labour Force Participation in Canada: Consideration of a Broader Definition of Capital Laura Lamb & Belayet Hossain Thompson Rivers University Kamloops, BC Canada

2. Background • Aboriginal Canadians live at a lower level of economic development than non-Aboriginal Canadians. • labour force status is consistently considered to be a critical factor.

3. Importance of employment • Employment is one of the most fundamental ways people participate in society, and the basis of self-respect and autonomy (Mendelson, 2004) • Employment is incorporated in many measures of well-being. (CWB Beavon & Cooke, 2003)

4. Research Objective • Identify the socio-economic and demographic determinants of the labour force status of Aboriginal Canadians • Broader definition of capital • Health status • Social capital

5. Role of Health Status • A component of human capital • Health status → labour market productivity →labour force participation • Past research on health and employment • Stephens (2010), Latif (2006)

6. Role of Social Capital • Networks and social relations are instrumental for labour market success (Woolcock, 2001) • Past research on social capital and employment • White et al.(2003), Matthews et al. (2009), Grenier & Xue (2009)

7. Hypothesis • Aboriginal Canadians with higher levels of human capital, as indicated by educational attainment and health status, and a high level of social capital are more likely to have full-time employment and less likely to not be in the labour force.

8. Methodology • 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS), Statistics Canada • 18,165 observations (age 20+) • Multinomial probit model • Dependent variable: employment status • NILF not in labour force • UE unemployed • PT part time employment • FT full time employment

9. Independent variables Human Capital education, health status Social Capital Socio-demographic gender, age, marital status, children, region, Aboriginal status, income support

10. Descriptive Statistics

11. Frequency distributions by health status Good/Excellent Health Fair/Poor Health

12. Frequencies distributions by social capital Strong Social Capital Weak Social Capital

13. Multinomial Probit – predicted probabilities

14. Multinomial Probit – predicted probabilities

15. Summary of results • Completion of post-secondary (university or non-university) is important for attaining full-time employment. • Good health has the largest impact on full-time employment. • Strong social capital has a significant impact on the probability of attaining full-time employment.

16. Summary of results • Predicted probability of being employed full-time is positively affected by • Male gender • Age 25-54 • Income support • Predicted probability of being employed full-time is negatively affected by • >2 children • Rural residence • Registered Indian status

17. Summary of results • The likelihood of not being in the labour force decreases with • level of education • strong social capital • good health • The likelihood of being unemployed decreases with • level of education • strong social capital

18. Policy implications • Results suggest greater recognition for the role of good health & social capital in policies developed to improve labour force participation of Aboriginal Canadians.

19. Future research • Results suggest that future research in this area may want to include a broader definition of capital to include social capital and health. • Examine role of capital with multiple variables to capture full impact of networks and relationships. • Include other variables such as parental education and intermarriage.