Aboriginal Women face challenges in the Canadian Economy
Women's work as producers and caregivers of life is not often recognized in our money-based economy. But certain groups of women have an especially difficult time fitting into a market model of economics in which the exchange of money is the only recognized economic activity. Aboriginal women face economic discrimination on the basis of gender as well as race and culture. In Canada, 42.7% of Aboriginal women live in poverty, double the percentage of non-Aboriginal women and significantly more than the number of Aboriginal men. The average annual income of an Aboriginal woman is $13,300, compared to $19,350 for a non-Aboriginal woman and $18,200 for an Aboriginal man. As well as being overrepresented among the poor, the economic contributions Aboriginal women do make are often minimized and ignored.