Can’t seem to find a Job? Black Daddies Club and Prince Trust Canada tackle the issue of unemployment in the African Caribbean Community

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

It is hard to imagine that in this day and age, African-Caribbean’s are still perceived as less intelligent, and are continually subjected to unfair treatment by employers when it comes to hiring, pay and promotions. The pay gap for African-Caribbean workers has been documented in past studies, including one from 2018 that found that people of colour earn 81 cents to every dollar Caucasian Canadians earn. Canadians of colour also experience higher levels of unemployment and are more likely to be in temporary employment.

It is okay to know these facts, but what can be done about it? Well, thankfully two organizations have joined forces to co-create an employment readiness program for Black and Racialized parents 18-30, who are experiencing barriers to accessing employment.

Prince Trust Canada (https://www.princestrust.ca/BDCFocusGroup) and Black Daddies Club (http://theblackdaddiesclub.com/) will be facilitating a virtual focus group on August 20^th, 2022, from 11:00 am-12:00 pm. This focus group was created to engage directly with attendees, by asking questions related to their employment experience. Attendees should consider some of these questions before attending:

• What are the current barriers to accessing sustainable, equitable employment?
• Which types of employment/career opportunities are you looking for?
• Which job-related skills would be valuable to learn?
• What type of job-related support do you need to have the tools to succeed with your employment/career goals?

These questions were formulated after research was done on the extent that African Caribbean’s are suffering disproportionately from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study from Statistics Canada, the African-Caribbean community is facing greater financial and employment challenges than non-minority populations.

The national statistical agency found that the African-Caribbean population (approximately 1 million people aged 15 to 69) have been harder hit by the pandemic than non-visible minority groups. Approximately one-third of African-Caribbeans (33.2%) reported they had challenges meeting basic financial needs (January 2021) compared with 16.6% of non-minority households. They have faced higher unemployment during the pandemic and earned lower wages.

The jobless rate for African-Caribbean’s rose by 5.3 percentage points between January 2020 and January 2021, compared with a 3.7-point increase for non-visible minority Canadians, and, for the three months ending in January, the unemployment rate was significantly higher at 13.1% compared with 7.7% for non-minorities.

The statistics are even more discouraging for our young people. Young African-Caribbean Canadians (aged 15 to 24) have been particularly hard hit, with a jobless rate of 30.6% — almost double the 15.6% rate for non-minority youth.

The 25 – 54 age group had a higher unemployment rate than non-minority Canadians (9.4% versus 6.1%), and wages were lower. Among paid employees, African-Caribbean’s made on average $26.70 an hour in January, compared with $30.62 per hour for non-minority workers.

Single parent families were also hit hard; Statistics Canada found that African-Caribbean mothers with young children were less likely to participate in the labour force during the pandemic. Among mothers with children under age six, 75.9% of them were active in the labour market, compared with 81.1% of non-minority mothers.

For those with older children (aged 6 to 17), there was virtually no difference between African-Caribbean mothers and non-minorities.

This is a larger issue than we think, and it is why attending this focus group would be a great idea for community members of all ages. I would suggest taking a look at the report released by Statistic Canada, and then register for this focus group at (https://www.princestrust.ca/BDCFocusGroup).

A bonus: each participant who attends the full virtual program and completes the survey will receive a 30$ Amazon gift card.