People of colour stressed and working high-risk jobs, study shows

People of colour are under a lot of stress and working high-risk jobs during the pandemic, according to a new survey.

The research from Brock University, in partnership with the Canadian Arab Institute, supports findings from other reports that show how the pandemic has amplified disparities equity-seeking groups face.

The results from the 211 phone surveys divide responses from Arab participants and other people of colour because roughly a third of the survey respondents identified as Arab.

Canadian Arab Institute executive director Shireen Salti said the research assistants doing the surveys between September and December 2020 were also from equity-seeking communities to make the process "culturally responsive."

'My family is still struggling mentally and financially'

Brock University president Gervan Fearon said he was surprised at the reported stress levels.

Roughly 81 per cent of people of colour and 77 per cent of Arabs polled said their stress levels grew. 

Fearon said it affected some groups more than others, "particularly for the newcomer communities, that sense of social networks not being available to them and how they thought it was so important to be engaged in dialogue with service providers to better meet their needs."

He said there was also a high number of participants working high-risk jobs.

"Nearly 20 per cent of the respondents were essential workers. One third also worked outside of the home and had an impact on their hours and income," he said.

The report shows many people of colour polled continued to work during the pandemic and roughly half of them didn't have full-time jobs.

"My family is still struggling mentally and financially, and they put so much pressure on me as the eldest son. Too much pressure, really," read a quote from a survey respondent. 

Another person said the pandemic impacted them emotionally in the face of instability.

We're already starting to see outreach [but] it's not enough. There needs to be way more points of contact.- Shireen Salti

"Before COVID, I was working two jobs, and I was graduating and getting interviews for jobs and suddenly all these jobs were on hold. The economy was on hold. These changes impacted my mental health and gave me anxiety," said someone in the survey.

Salti said Arab women were especially impacted.

The study also revealed a lack of: 

• Access to medical and mental health services.
• Access to information and trusted supports.
• Understanding of how to access government supports.

Government needs to improve trust and communication

The researchers made four main recommendations to the government.

The first two are to improve trust and communication with equity-seeking communities. The report also suggested partnering with community leaders to help strengthen bonds.

"We're already starting to see outreach [but] it's not enough," Salti said. "There needs to be way more points of contact."

One survey participant said the government should try to improve internet across the country.

"In my First Nations community, we really saw how limited access to the Internet was for a lot of my family. When trying to communicate and talk to them, their data plans aren't unlimited, or their internet caps out at a certain point."

The other two recommendations from the report are to improve the overall well-being of people of colour and putting things in place to mitigate more disparities in the future.

The latter recommendation would include creating better community health facilities, supporting racialized businesses and forming a emergency management strategy with input from the community.