Working Rough, Living Poor (Report and Research Bulletins) (2011)

The key goals of the ISRH team are to investigate the systemic causes of growing racialized inequalities in employment and income, and to document the health impacts of these inequalities. [...] The ISRH team decided to focus the initial phases of the research in the Black Creek area, a low-income marginalized area in the northwest peri-urban region of Toronto. [...] Place-based stigma associated with the Black Creek area and the lack of stable jobs and rise in ―temp agencies‖ in the area further exacerbate the systemic discriminations and barriers facing racialized residents in the area. [...] At the same time, the very political forces that are ushering the rise in precarious forms of employment are also cutting back and marketizing social services and social safety nets to the detriment of those who are negatively impacted by the erosion of stable forms of employment and labour protections (Baines, 2010; Clark, 2002; Evans and Shields, 2002; Peck, 2001; Richmond and Shields, 2004; Shi [...] The literature review concluded the following: Despite the evidence that suggests that poverty is becoming increasingly racialized in Toronto and Canada and that income inequalities are bad for health, there is a dearth of research that addresses the impact of socio-economic determinants on the health of racialized groups in this country.