Quebec Anglophones Who Stayed... and those Who Left. A Comparison of Key Characteristics, 1971-2001
Year:
2005
Author :
Volume and number:
, 26
Journal:
, Journal of Eastern Townships Studies
Pages :
, 45-63
Abstract
Table 5 also illustrates the aging of the EMT born-in-Quebec group over the period in question. The ratio of EMT born-in-Quebec seniors (65 years and up) to children (aged 0-14) was 0.20 in 1971 but had risen to 0.51 by 2001. Put another way, there are 43% more seniors in the EMT born-in-Quebec in 2001 than there were in 1971, while there are approximately half as many children aged 0-14 in 2001 than there were in 1971. For the total Quebec EMT population, the seniors-to-children ratio rose steadily over the period in question 0.20 in 1971, to 0.39 in 1981, to 0.59 in 1991, and to 0.70 in 2001. In 1971, at the beginning of the period under consideration, the EMT born-in-Quebec group demonstrated a superior status in terms of educational achievement both with respect to their Quebec counterparts and to the Canadian population as a whole. This was true for both leavers and stayers. Those who had left Quebec by 1971 were 81% more likely than other Canadians to possess a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma and were 19% less likely to be without a high school graduation certificate. The EMT born-in-Quebec group still living in Quebec in 1971 was 27% more likely than other Canadians to possess a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma and was also slightly less likely to be without a high school graduation certificate. As of 2001, the leavers continued to show an educational advantage, being 36% more likely to have post-secondary credentials and 44% less likely to be without high school certification. In contrast, the stayers were slightly less likely than other Canadians to have post-secondary qualifications and also slightly less likely to be without high school certification. It can be demonstrated then, that the education advantage held by the EMT born-in-Quebec group in 1971 has disappeared for those who still live in Quebec in 2001, while those departing from Quebec continue to show higher educational attainment than other Canadians. As Figure 5 illustrates, the unemployment rate for the EMT born-in-Quebec group that continues to reside in Quebec has been higher than that of the leavers for each of the census periods under consideration and the gap has grown to the point where, in 2001, the unemployment rate for Anglophones who remain in Quebec is nearly twice that of the EMT born-in-Quebec group now living in another provinces. Clearly, if seeking better employment prospects was part of the motivation for leaving Quebec, these hopes have been realized. The 4.3% unemployment rate of the EMT born-in-Quebec group who had moved from their province of birth by 2001 is also substantially lower than the national rate of 7.4% recorded in the census of that year. When compared with Quebec-born Francophones still living in Quebec, the EMT born-in-Quebec group has experienced a shift in relative status since 1971 and 1981 when they were generally better off in terms of access to the labour market, showing lower unemployment rates and similar tendencies to be out of the labour market. For the later periods, we can observe that the minority-majority index for unemployment rate and out of-the-labour market measures show this EMT group to be worse off than the FMT group. While these differences are not huge, (the 1991 mmi for unemployment is 1.07 and the 2001 mmi for unemployment is 1.11) the trend is worrisome and likely to continue since closer analysis of the labour force activity by age cohorts reveals that younger Anglophones are experiencing greater relative difficulty in this regard than are their elders.
Theme :
Quebec AnglophonesMigrationsLinguistic minorities
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