Laura Lamb & Belayet Hossain Thompson Rivers University Kamloops, BC Canada 1

 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. 2

 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) 3

 Identify the socio-economic and demographic determinants of the labour force status of Aboriginal Canadians  Broader definition of capital ◦ Health status ◦ Social capital 4

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

 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) 6

 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. 7

 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS), Statistics Canada  18,165 observations (age 20+)  Multinomial probit model ◦ Dependent variable: employment status  NILF not in labour force  UEunemployed  PTpart time employment  FTfull time employment 8

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

10

Good/Excellent Health Fair/Poor Health 11

Strong Social CapitalWeak Social Capital 12

NILFUEPTFT Base Human Capital High school Some post-sec Complete post-sec Some university Complete University Health Status Social Capital

Socio-demographic variables NILFUEPTFT Base Gender Age Age Age Age Married children >2 children Rural Arctic Registered status Income support

 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. 15

 Predicted probability of being employed full- time is positively affected by ◦ Male gender ◦ Age ◦ Income support  Predicted probability of being employed full- time is negatively affected by ◦ >2 children ◦ Rural residence ◦ Registered Indian status 16

 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 17

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

 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. 19