The Dimensions of Wage Inequality Among Aboriginal Peoples

In addition to confirming a wage gap between Canadian workers as a whole and those of Aboriginal origin, our research also generated new findings: there is greater disparity in the distribution of wages among Aboriginals than among Canadian workers as a whole, even after allowing for demographic differences. Our analysis does not stop there. Indeed, this analysis can hide considerable wage dispersions between Aboriginal groups since appreciable wage gaps were noted between these groups. Having said this, wage dispersion is most likely greater for certain Aboriginal groups than others. Since this aspect has never been studied before, the purpose of this paper is to document differences in wage dispersion for the four main Aboriginal groups. Our results show that North American Indians living on reserves are the most disadvantaged Aboriginal group because their earnings are substantially lower than those of the other groups.