DTES demographics studied, buried
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 by David Eby
In one more of the endless parades of studies generated by the Vancouver Agreement, the demographics of SRO residents have now been exhaustively catalogued.
Or actually, they were catalogued in April, but the report was released on the Friday of the Canada day long weekend. This weekend, of course, is known for its importance in the communications world as a great time to release a study you don't want reported on.
The results are available on the City of Vancouver website here.
While nobody can be housed in the results of the study, unless they build an (illegal) shelter out of the research paper, some highlights of the results are as follows, which can roughly be summarized by telling you the shocking findings that SRO residents are disproportionately poor, sick, and aboriginal, and they think their housing sucks.
Stop the presses.
- 79% were male while 20% were female; 1% were transgender;
- Average age was 46 while 64% were between the ages of 35 and 54;
- 68% were Caucasian while 21% were Aboriginal or Metis;
- 90% lived in single person households;
- 13% were born in Vancouver and 4% elsewhere in Metro Vancouver;
- 60% received Income Assistance (i.e. welfare); 21% were employed;
- 12% received a federal pension; and 7% had other income sources;
- The average total monthly income from all sources was $1,109;
- 77% reported incomes of under $15,000/year;
- 68% reported rents of $375/mo. or more with the average being $395;
- 45% had lived in the DTES for 5 years or more;
- 45% had lived in their current housing for less than 1 year;
- 71% reported their previous home had been in the City of Vancouver;
- 11% had arrived directly from an emergency shelter or from the street;
- 52% had previously been homeless and 52% had stayed at a shelter;
- 43% had previously been married while 46% had children;
- 30% had previously applied for social housing;
- 28% assessed their health as poor or terrible;
- 79% reported health concerns with 47% identifying multiple concerns;
- 40% visited an emergency room in the past year; 21% were hospitalized;
- 52% reported using drugs including 28% who used drugs frequently;
- 77% reported smoking including 52% who smoked frequently;
- 41% said their current housing was worse than their previous housing.
Or actually, they were catalogued in April, but the report was released on the Friday of the Canada day long weekend. This weekend, of course, is known for its importance in the communications world as a great time to release a study you don't want reported on.
The results are available on the City of Vancouver website here.
While nobody can be housed in the results of the study, unless they build an (illegal) shelter out of the research paper, some highlights of the results are as follows, which can roughly be summarized by telling you the shocking findings that SRO residents are disproportionately poor, sick, and aboriginal, and they think their housing sucks.
Stop the presses.
- 79% were male while 20% were female; 1% were transgender;
- Average age was 46 while 64% were between the ages of 35 and 54;
- 68% were Caucasian while 21% were Aboriginal or Metis;
- 90% lived in single person households;
- 13% were born in Vancouver and 4% elsewhere in Metro Vancouver;
- 60% received Income Assistance (i.e. welfare); 21% were employed;
- 12% received a federal pension; and 7% had other income sources;
- The average total monthly income from all sources was $1,109;
- 77% reported incomes of under $15,000/year;
- 68% reported rents of $375/mo. or more with the average being $395;
- 45% had lived in the DTES for 5 years or more;
- 45% had lived in their current housing for less than 1 year;
- 71% reported their previous home had been in the City of Vancouver;
- 11% had arrived directly from an emergency shelter or from the street;
- 52% had previously been homeless and 52% had stayed at a shelter;
- 43% had previously been married while 46% had children;
- 30% had previously applied for social housing;
- 28% assessed their health as poor or terrible;
- 79% reported health concerns with 47% identifying multiple concerns;
- 40% visited an emergency room in the past year; 21% were hospitalized;
- 52% reported using drugs including 28% who used drugs frequently;
- 77% reported smoking including 52% who smoked frequently;
- 41% said their current housing was worse than their previous housing.
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i find it even more shocking that 79% of residents are male, 87% of residence are not from Vancouver, and the majority are white.
i assumed that mental health problems (isn't that what everybody talks about when discussing the DTES) affected all portions of our society equally. i guess not. i guess white males have it harder.
i dunno....this makes me even feel less sorry for them and now i'm really feeling that this ghetto just feeds and grows on itself.
if you look at the statistics for bc as a whole, the aboriginal population in dtes is disproportionate to that of the rest of bc.
the reason for a higher white population is not that white males have it harder, it is that there is simply a higher white population in canada as a whole.
the reason why it is predominantly single men is likely that most of the housing opportunities are single room occupancies which couldn't exactly house a woman with children very easily, single mothers making up one of the poorest demographics of women.
don't just take stats at face value. they don't make sense outside of context and the context is rather easy to find with a quick glance at stats can, dj.
good post! :)