Aboriginal People in Manitoba 2000Chapter 7 : Housing and Mobility |
 |
Shelter Costs
A high percentage of family income spent on shelter costs is often an indicator of relative poverty, in the form of less disposable income. While families with lower incomes tend to rent or buy less expensive housing, local housing markets limit the degree to which shelter costs can be reduced.
Of non-Aboriginal Manitoba households who rented in 1996, 33% spent over 30% of their income on shelter. The corresponding figure for homeowners was just 9.6%. Part of this difference between renters and owners is a function of family income, and part is a function of the age of the home owners, older home owners being more likely to have paid off their mortgages and own their homes outright.
Aboriginal people, as we have seen, have lower average incomes, larger families with more young children, and far fewer people in the older age categories. Off reserve, Aboriginal families are more likely to rent than own their homes. As a result, nearly half (48.3%) of Aboriginal renters spend over 30% of their family income on shelter costs (43% of Metis, 52% of Status Indians, and 53% of non-Status Indians). In Winnipeg, this figure rises to 55.5%: 50% of Metis, 58% of non-Status Indians, and 60% of Status Indians.
Therefore, 83% of Status Indians living in Winnipeg rent their homes, of which a majority spends over 30% of their income to do so.
Among Aboriginal households renting accommodations in northern Manitoba and in non-Band housing on reserve, the shelter cost “squeeze” is less common. In the north, 32% of 9,590 Aboriginal renters off reserve have shelter cost ratios over 30%, and 24% of 4,165 renters on reserve. However, most Aboriginal housing in the north and especially on reserve is Band housing, and a different set of problems is in evidence.
