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  •  In 2001, 47 per cent of Aboriginal women aged 15 and over were employed, compared with 56 per cent of non-Aboriginal women. Aboriginal women were also less likely than their male counterparts to be employed, at 47 per cent and 53 per cent respectively. Fifty-seven per cent of Aboriginal women with jobs work part-time and/or part year.
  • Women working full-time all year earn 70.5 per cent compared to men. Women of colour earn 64 per cent and Aboriginal women earn only 46 per cent of what men are paid. 
  • Aboriginal woman make 24.5 per cent less than non-Aboriginal women and Aboriginal women make 18 per cent less than women of colour. 
  • Annual income of First Peoples is lower than other Canadians: 42 per cent have low incomes, more than half the national average. 
  • Aboriginal women with jobs are most concentrated in low-paying occupations: 60 per cent work either in sales, service, or in business, finance, or administration jobs. The median income for Aboriginal women is $12,300 – $5,000 less than non-Aboriginal women. It is also $3,000 less than Aboriginal men. The average employment income for First Nation women in First Nation communities was approximately $1,500 less than First Nation men and approximately $8,400 less than the Canadian average for women. Twenty-seven per cent of income for Aboriginal women comes from unemployment insurance and social welfare benefits. In 2000, 36 per cent of all Aboriginal females were classified as living in a household with incomes below the Low Income Cutoff, which is double the figure for non-Aboriginal women.

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