Filipino workers in Canada among hardest-hit by COVID-19
Filipino workers in Canada among hardest-hit by COVID-19
By Ysh Cabana
The Philippine Reporter
TORONTO–The economic fallout as a result of COVID-19 is having a more significant impact on visible minorities in Canada, according to study from Statistics Canada released July 6, 2020.
Findings from the cross-Canada online survey show that 42 percent of Filipino-Canadians and 47 per cent of West Asian-Canadians have had higher shares reporting a strong or moderate negative financial impact compared to 34 percent of white participants. The StatsCan paper reports around one-third of the survey respondents, who were employed prior to the pandemic, experienced job loss or reduced working hours.
“Recent immigrants were much more likely to be in poverty than long-term immigrants and the Canadian born,” the study said.
After adjusting for various demographic factors, such as immigration status, education and employment status, the gap in the poverty rate for minorities shrinks “but remains large,” it said.
Arabs and West Asians had the highest poverty rates while West Asians and Filipinos had the highest rates of job loss, according to 2016 census data.
Southeast Asian and Korean groups both reported that 40 per cent have experienced a work disruption during COVID-19, followed by Black (38 percent), South Asian (37 percent), Latin American (34 percent), Arab (33 per cent) and Chinese (31 percent).
Asked about the impact of COVID-19 on their ability to meet financial obligations such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities and groceries, the study also found that about 19 percent of the survey respondents have applied for federal income support programs, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Employment Insurance (EI). The study noted that almost all of the applicants, 95 percent, have received support.
The data was collected from more than 36,000 participants through an online crowdsourcing questionnaire between May 26 and June 8.
“Receiving federal income support was associated with a higher level of trust in governments and health authorities to make good decisions about when and how to reopen workplaces and public spaces,” the study noted. “While reporting a strong or moderate financial impact of Covid-19 was associated with a lower level of trust.”
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