YOUTH FACT SHEETUniversity of Victoria Centre for Youth and Society and the Community Social Planning Council

CAPITAL REGION DISTRICT

129,240 youth 35 and under

20.6% poverty rate in the 15-24 age group

53.6% poverty rate for employed unattached young women in the 15-29 age group

46.2% poverty rate for employed unattached youth in the 15-29 age group

1 in 3 aboriginal, immigrant, visible minority, and youth with disabilities between 15-24 live in low income

1/4 of youth with a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree in the 15-24 age group live in low income

By the NumBers: youth Poverty

Youth Poverty: Population Living Under LICO

CapitalRegionDistrict

BritishColumbia

Canada

15-24Yearsof Age

25-34Yearsof Age

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% o

f Gro

up in

Pov

erty

% of Group in PovertyCRD BC Canada

15-24 years of age 20.60% 21.90% 16.50%25-34 years of age 16.50% 18.30% 13.30%

Statistics Canada 2006

The Capital Region District (CRD) contains diverse communities and continues to experience growing prosperity and new economic opportuni-ties. The emerging youth population believes in building a sustainable and livable community in the CRD.The Youth Research and Engagement in Grow-ing Prosperity Project is a partnership between the University of Victoria Centre for Youth and So-ciety (CFYS) and the Community Social Planning Council (CSPC). This project analyzed the 2006 Census data specifically on youth in the CRD be-tween 15-24 and 24-35 years of age.

July 2011

Total Youth Population Single and Unattached

Individuals 15-29 Years of Age

Total population 14,665

Total population with employment income

12,765

Rate of Poverty with employment income

45.3%

Rate of Poverty men with employment income

37.4%

Rate of Poverty women with employment income

53.6%

STATISTICS CANADA (2006) DEMOGRAPHICSTotal 2006 Capital Region District Population (331,635) PopulationYouth – total CRD population 35 and under 129,240Youth under the age of 15 47,225Youth between 15-24 years of age 43,090Youth between 25-34 years of age 38,925Youth - Between 15-34 years of ageYouth in employed in labour force 61,155Aboriginal Youth (with income) 3,240Visible Minority Youth (with income) 8,935Young People with Disabilities 6,365Youth with High School Certificate or Equivalent 30,085Youth with Post-Secondary Certificate, Diploma or Degree 34,290Youth who take Public Transportation 10,600

Age and Poverty, CRD, 2006 CensusTotal Men Women

Total # Poor % of Group

Total # Poor % of Group

Total # Poor % of Group

All Age Groups 331,635 43,610 13.1% 158,550 19,300 100% 173,085 24,305 100%15 years & under 47,225 6,755 14.3% 23,905 3,460 14.5% 23,320 3,290 14.1%15 to 24 years 43,090 8,885 20.6% 21,610 4,015 18.6% 21,475 4,865 22.7%25 to 34 years 38,925 6,435 16.5% 19,060 2,930 15.4% 19,865 3,505 17.6%

According to the 2006 Census, poverty is highest among the 15-24 years age group at 20.6%. This means that one-fifth (8,885) of the total CRD population living in low income

are young people.

Incidences of Poverty and Education Education Rate of Poverty

Total Male FemaleNo certificate, diploma or degree (15-24 year olds)

15.8% 15.4% 16.2%

High school certificate (15-24 year olds)

21.7% 18.6% 24.8%

Postsecondary certifiate diploma or degree (15-24 year olds)

25.8% 24.6% 26.6%

No certificate, diploma or degree (25-34 year olds)

23.4% 19.5% 29.0%

High school certificate (25-34 year olds)

19.5% 17.5% 22.6%

Postsecondary certifiate diploma or degree (25-34 year olds)

14.1% 13.3% 14.8%

Young people between the ages of 15 and 34 represent almost half of the population of those who identified as aboriginal in the CRD.

Almost 1 in 3 (27.8%) aboriginal youth between 15-24 live in low income in comparison to almost 1 in 5 (22.0%) of aboriginal youth between 25-34 years of age that experience poverty in the region.

Youth who immigrated into Canada between 1996 and 2006 have high rates of poverty.

Specifically in the 20-24 age group where young people are experiencing low income at 29.7%. This is almost 10% higher than the 25-34 age bracket.

Youth who identify as visible minority experience low income at high rates. In the 15-24 years of age grouping, visible minority youth have a rate of poverty of 29%.

This means that almost of a third of young people between 15-24 years of age who identify as a vis-ible minority experience poverty compared to just over a fifth in the 25-34 years of age bracket.

Youth with activity limitations or disabilities have a high poverty rate at 29% for 15-24 year olds and 22.1% for 25-34 year olds.

Young women with disabilities experience low in-come at much higher rates than men in both age categories, but specifically the 15-24 age bracket. There is almost a 10% difference between young men and women in the 15-24 years of age group.

The youth population experiences poverty at higher rates than most age groupings. Girls and young women, visible minority youth, and young people with disabilities have lower income

than the average young person in the CRD.

LICO determines the income threshold in which families or unattached individuals may be chal-lenged due to the need to spend a greater por-tion of income on the basics (housing, food and clothing) than the average or similar family size or structure.

LICO attempts to accounts for the complex reali-ties of inflation, family size, community size etc. and helps better quantify the nature of the rela-tively worst-off families in Canada.

There is no official definition of poverty agreed be-tween local, national and international institutions, which make LICO highly useful to determine pop-ulations in the CRD who experience challenges associated with its socio-economic status

For the purposes of this factsheet, families and unattached individuals whose total income was not below LICO are classified as non-poor and those below LICO are classified as poor.

Due to the many variables that define a family’s cost of living (inflation, family size, community size) when calculating LICO thresholds, variable measurements exist to account for these incon-sistencies. To account for inflation, the prices for goods and services are re-indexed annually . The LICO measurements account for seven family sizes among five different community sizes .

Low-Income Cutoffs (LICO)

Family Size

Gross Income 1995 Census

Gross Income 2005 Census

1 $14,659 $17,9062 $18,249 $22,2903 $22,435 $27,4034 $27,239 $33,2725 $30,894 $37,7356 $34,844 $42,5617+ $38,793 $47,384

Poverty lines based on before tax Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO)

Victoria Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) 1996 and 2006

Poverty lines based on before tax Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO)

Victoria CMA 1995 and 2005

Family Size

Gross Income 1995 Census

Gross Income 2005 Census

1 $14,659 $17,9062 $18,249 $22,2903 $22,435 $27,4034 $27,239 $33,2725 $30,894 $37,7356 $34,844 $42,5617+ $38,793 $47,384

LICO Calculations for Victoria CMA’s population size taken from LICO urban area category 100,000-499,999 data set.

Income calculation for 1996 and 2006 Census taken income calculations from the 1995 and 2005 Calendar Year.

The Youth Research and Engagement in Growing Prosperity Project is a partnered project be-tween the University of Victoria Centre for Youth and Society (CFYS) and the Community Social Planning Council (CSPC). This project is affiliated with the Growing Prosperity Consortium in the Capital Region District (CRD).

This project hopes to better facilitate discussions about youth poverty and present innovative solu-tions to service-providers, community organizations, government institutions and to other youth in the CRD. To further engage with this project, please visit youthpovertysolutions.wordpress.com.

This project is generously funded by:July 2011