The Socioeconomic Status of Saskatchewan First Nation Members on Reserve
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The Socioeconomic Status of Saskatchewan First Nation Members on Reserve A statistical analysis by Sask Trends Monitor February 2010 Version Doug Elliott QED Information Systems Inc. 444 19th Avenue Regina, Saskatchewan S4N 1H1 306-522-5515 [email protected] www.sasktrends.ca Background This report is part of a project that was notionally called “Harvard North”. The research question is whether or not there is a correlation between the well-being of First Nation members and the quality of their governance. In simple terms, does good governance yield above-average socioeconomic status? The project was originally conceived by the Saskatchewan Labour Market Commission but was never formally completed and published. When the Commission was wound down, Sask Trends Monitor completed the initial phase of the research and prepared this summary. This material was not reviewed by the Commission and does not represent their views. This part of the research is designed to measure the socioeconomic status of individuals for each First Nation. It was intended to eventually be compared with governance indicators. There were a number of steps involved in the developing the socioeconomic status. • The target group is those individuals whose local level of governance is a Chief and Council. In most cases this will be the on-Reserve population of a single First Nation. In some cases it would include the residents of adjacent communities even though they are technically under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. • The second step was to develop a measure of socioeconomic status. The Statistics Canada census is the most reliable information about the on-Reserve population and because there is no universally accepted definition of socioeconomic status, we focused on the extensive range of indicators available from that source. • The third step is to determine a methodology for combining the individual measures of socioeconomic status into a single indicator that enables one to compare First Nation members with one another. February, 2010 2 Choosing the First Nations For each First Nation, we needed to define the group of individuals whose local level of governance is a Chief and Council. These are the people whose socioeconomic status will be most affected by the governance decisions and institutions for that First Nation. In most cases this will be the on-Reserve population of a particular First Nation but in some cases, the residents of adjacent communities were included even though they are technically under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. The fact that all First Nation members can vote in band elections was ignored. The residents of the Little Red River Reserve were allocated to Montreal Lake. Multi-community First Nations such as La Ronge and Peter Ballantyne were treated as single First Nations. We included all those who live on Reserve even though some will not be Registered Indians and therefore not technically under the jurisdiction of Chief and Council. We had to exclude the Joseph Bighead First Nation because the First Nation refused to participate in the census. Statistics Canada suppresses data from communities with only a few persons to help maintain the confidentiality of respondents so the following First Nations could not be included in the analysis. - Little Black Bear - The Key - Day Star - Okanese - Nekaneet - Wood Mountain - White Cap - Star Blanket - Ocean Man - Peepeekisis - Sakimay This left us with 56 Saskatchewan First Nations which had most or all of the socioeconomic filblfactors available. February, 2010 3 Adjacent Communities In a limited number of cases it First Nation Adjacent Community was deemed appropriate to Birch Narrows First Nation Turnor Lake include the resident of the Black Lake Stony Rapids nearby “adjacent community” Buffalo River Dene Nation St. George's Hill, Michel Village wihith t he on Reserve Canoe Lake Cree First Nation Cole Bay, Jans Bay population because in practise Cumberland House Cree Nation Cumberland House their socioeconomic status will English River First Nation Patuanak be determined by governance Pelican Lake Chitek Lake decisions in the nearby Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Pelican Narrows Reserve. The adjacent communities chosen are shown on the left. February, 2010 4 Choosing the Factors to Measure Socioeconomic Status Measure Notes Income per capita Income per capita is often used as a proxy for the size of the local economy. Growth in income per capita We used a ten-year (1995 to 2005) period to measure changes in income over time. Average household income This is similar to income per capita but it is a measure of spending power rather than the size of the economy. This is the traditional income measure used for socioeconomic status. Change in average household As with income per capita, we used a ten-year period to measure changes in income. income Educational attainment This would is the percentage of the adult population (restricted to 25 to 64 years) who have at least a grade 12 education. Employment rate The traditional measure of employment is the proportion of the adult (15 and older) population who had a job in May 2005. Change in employment This is growth in employment from 1996 to 2006. Labour force attachment Rather than just a "snapshot" at the time of the census, this is the proportion of the population who worked throughout 2005 in full-time job. Private sector This is the proportion of employment in sectors other than health, education, and government services. Private sector employment is often more indicative of a growing economy than public sector employment. Dependency This is the proportion of personal income that comes from sources other than government transfers, that is, from employment, investments, etc. Housing As a proxy for wealth,this is the proportion of dwellings that are not in need of major repairs. A total of eleven indicators were chosen using the available data from the census. They are a combination of single year snapshots (2006) and trends over time (1996 to 2006). February, 2010 5 Combining the Factors This is a statistical question. How does one combine the eleven individual measures into a single indicator for socioeconomic status? How does one “add” average income to the percentage with a post-secondary education? There are lots of sophisticated statistical ways to do this but we used a simple one that is easy to understand and explain. Each of the indicators is ranked from 1 to 58 (the number of First Nations). The socioeconomic status is the simple average of the eleven rankings. One of the advantages of this methodology is that some of the extremes arising from small sample sizes do not adversely affect the result. The highest possible ranking would be 1 and the lowest possible 58. In fact, the rankings ranged from 7 to 49. February, 2010 6 The Eleven Indicators For each of the eleven indicators, the First Nations are ranked from low to high in this section. Income per Capita Mosquito Island Lake Red Earth Witchekan Lake James Smith Lac La Ronge Total Personal Income per Capita Saulteaux 2005 Yellow Quill Pelican Lake Mistawasis Shoal Lake Moosomin Canoe Lake Fishing Lake Big River Muskowekwan Montreal Lake Birch Narrows Thunderchild Kawacatoose Ahtahka koop Peter Ballantyne Red Pheasant Wahpeton Makwa Kinistin Sturgeon Lake One Arrow Gordon Keeseekoose Cote Hatchet Lake Beardy's& s & Standing Buffalo Muscowpetung Piapot Carry The Kettle Pasqua Onion Lake Sweetgrass Waterhen Lake Clearwater River Little Pine English River Kahkewistahaw Ochapowace Poundmaker Buffalo River White Bear Flying Dust Muskeg Lake Black Lake Cowessess Cumberland House Fond du Lac Muskoday $0 $2,000 $4,000 $6,000 $8,000 $10,000 $12,000 $14,000 February, 2010 8 Changes in Income per Capita James Smith Mistawasis Island Lake Mosquito Witchekan Lake Change in Personal Income per Capita Lac La Ronge Clearwater River After Adjusting for Inflation Ahtahkakoop 1995-2005 Gordon Hatchet Lake Waterhen Lake Sturgeon Lake Pasqua Standing Buffalo Flying Dust Beardy's & Okemasis Moosomin Yellow Quill Piapot Big River Saulteaux Red Pheasant Kawacatoose Ochapowace White Bear Fishing Lake Peter Ballantyne Buffalo River Poundmaker Canoe Lake Shoa l La ke Cowessess Fond du Lac Sweetgrass Cote Muskowekwan Keeseekoose Little Pine Carry The Kettle Thunderchild English River Onion Lake Muskoday Muskeg Lake Cumberland House Pelican Lake Montreal Lake Makwa Sahgaiehcan Kahkewistahaw Black Lake Birch Narrows Red Earth -50% -25% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% February, 2010 9 Average Household Income Moosomin Mosquito Fishing Lake Standing Buffalo Yellow Quill Saulteaux Average Household Income Cote in 2005 Kinistin Island Lake Ahtahkakoop Little Pine Montreal Lake One Arrow Piapot Keeseekoose Poundmaker Gordon Kawacatoose Carry The Kettle Muskowekwan Bigge River Pasqua Thunderchild Wahpeton Waterhen Lake Beardy's & Okemasis Red Pheasant Ochapowace Sweetgrass White Bear Sturgeon Lake Muscowpetung Makwa Sahgaiehcan Kahkewistahaw Muskeg Lake Lac La Ronge Shoal Lake Witchekan Lake James Smith Canoe Lake Peter Ballantyne Birch Narrows Mistawasis Buffalo River Cowessess Red Earth Clearwater River Onion Lake Flying Dust Hatchet Lake Cumberland House Muskoday Pelican Lake English River Black Lake Fond du Lac $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 $25,000 $30,000 $35,000 $40,000 $45,000 $50,000 February, 2010 10 Changes in Average Household Income Montreal Lake Ahtahkakoop Clearwater River Hatchet Lake Island Lake Change in Average Household Piapot Peter Ballantyne