Employment Income Gap in the Canadian Labour Market: Intersection of Gender, Religion and Visible Minority Status

Abstract

Despite developments of equal legislation and institutional interventions, Muslims remain disadvantaged in employment outcomes in developed countries’ labour markets. Most studies report high unemployment and low participation rates of Muslims, particularly Muslim women in Western countries, due to their ethnic and religious backgrounds. However, their disadvantage in employment income is still underexplored. Based on intersectionality theory and using the 2011 Canadian National Household Survey (NHS), this study examines how gender, religious affiliation, and visible minority status are associated with employment income. Specifically, this paper tests the gender income gap among employees with different religious and visible minority background in the Canadian labour market. The findings reveal significant income inequalities across gender, religious affiliation, and visible minority status, even after controlling for a variety of individual characteristics and human capital. Overall, women, non-whites, and Muslims earn significantly less than men, whites, and Non-Muslim employees, respectively. Interaction analyses show that the employment gender income gap is lower among Muslim and non-white employees than non-Muslim and white groups.