Ullaakkut. Good morning. Thank you for inviting us here today to speak about the challenges faced by older indigenous women in this country.
Before I continue, I'd like to take a moment to recognize that we are on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
Since 1974, NWAC has represented the collective voices of indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people of first nations, both on and off reserve, and disenfranchised Métis and Inuit.
We're gathered here today to discuss the challenges experienced by older indigenous women and factors that are contributing to their vulnerability. However, it is important to note that vulnerability is cumulative over someone's life course. The welfare of the aging population depends greatly on the trajectories of their various experiences and challenges endured throughout their life course. Adverse childhood experiences—think the residential school system and the resulting intergenerational trauma—combined and compounded by later adversities contribute to poor health outcomes and increased mortality.
It is important to acknowledge that while indigenous seniors are not a homogeneous group, colonial oppression and exploitation have created a commonality of experiences that have impacted a significant number of indigenous seniors' health and well-being. Given the continued effects of colonization, the legacy of residential schools, the sixties scoop, discriminatory policies and ongoing inequities in the health care system, it is clear that indigenous seniors are vulnerable. Indigenous populations have significant differences in their life expectancy compared with their non-indigenous counterparts. In 2017, the projected life expectancy of first nations females was 78. For Métis females, it was 80, and for Inuit females, it was 73, as compared with 84 for non-indigenous women. The drastic gap in life expectancy between indigenous women—which is most pronounced between Inuit women and their non-indigenous counterparts, at 11 years—is reflective of their overall vulnerability.
In general, across all populations senior women are more likely to be vulnerable than men, as they have different, often interrupted, patterns of wage earnings. As a result, they may have fewer opportunities to contribute to their savings and/or pension plan. Women typically earn significantly less then men. Indigenous women fall even further behind in the wage gap.
The current generation of senior women are more likely to have worked within the home as homemakers rather than paid members of the workforce. These factors, all of which may be compounded for indigenous women, contribute to lower income status and increased vulnerability of women. Therefore, it's important to address both income and equality and establish reforms that abolish the gender wage gap in this country.
Due to increased life expectancy and relatively high fertility rates, the Canadian indigenous population is growing nearly twice as fast as their non-indigenous counterparts. As a result, the indigenous aging population is increasing as well. According to population projections, within the next two decades, the fraction of indigenous people aged 65 years and older will more than double in size. Therefore, complacency about their vulnerability and challenges will not only affect the current generation but also an increasing number of people going forward.
First nations, Métis and Inuit seniors suffer from poorer overall health outcomes than their non-indigenous counterparts. Indigenous populations are more likely to have higher rates of numerous chronic conditions like hypertension, heart disease, stroke and diabetes, including at a younger age compared with the general Canadian population. The increased prevalence of chronic conditions, combined with elevated smoking and obesity rates in some indigenous populations, increase the risk of dementia. This complex multi-morbidity at younger ages can substantially impact quality of life and the ability to age well in communities.
Gaps in information exist, making it difficult to understand the full extent of the problematic prevalence of disabilities in indigenous communities. However, due to complex social, cultural and historical factors and the increased prevalence of chronic conditions, mental health issues, depression, substance abuse and rates of violence, it's safe to conclude that indigenous peoples are more likely to experience disability compared with their non-indigenous counterparts.
Due to the intersectionality of indigenous status and disability status, indigenous people with disabilities in Canada represent a marginalized community within a marginalized population. The biggest challenge for seniors with disabilities is economic insecurity, particularly for those whose disabilities affected their employment and in turn their ability to accumulate savings for retirement.
Part of the poor health outcomes and disability rates of this population can be attributed to the increased likelihood of low educational attainment, low employment rates, low incomes and disproportionate and chronic poverty that impact indigenous people across their life course. Research has indicated that indigenous seniors experience substantially higher poverty rates than the national average, with approximately 25% of indigenous seniors living in poverty compared with 13% of non-indigenous seniors.
Despite the growing demand for culturally safe community-based supports and services for older indigenous populations in Canada, the current infrastructure and services are lacking and inadequate. For example, 44% of first nations people aged 55 and older require one or more continuing care services. However, fewer then 1% have access to long-term care facilities on reserve. As a result, some health challenges may go unnoticed until they are exacerbated and complicated, requiring an emergency room visit or hospital admission.
When members of the indigenous community inevitably require more supports and services, they are forced to leave their communities to access long-term care that is often hundreds if not thousands of kilometres away. These individuals are not only forced to leave their homes but are also moved away from their families, their language, their cultures and their traditional country foods. The impact of being forced to move away from their community to access services can be very traumatizing and trigger traumatic experiences from childhood, such as forced relocation, the residential school system and the sixties scoop.
The challenges surrounding continuing care within indigenous communities are partially due to the convoluted and overlapping nature of the responsibilities, policies and jurisdictions of different levels of government. The responsibility for and provision of health care are currently shared by federal, provincial and territorial governments. As the framework is complicated and ambiguous, many older indigenous people experience difficulty navigating the system and accessing adequate support services and care.