Childhood Factors Associated with the Completion of a High School Diploma or Equivalency Certificate or Higher among First Nations Children Living off Reserve, Métis and Inuit Children. Catalogue No. 41-20-0002
Author: Landry, Simon
Date: 2023-04-06
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Eskimos,Indigenous Populations,Canada Natives,Children,Early Experience,High School Graduates,High School Equivalency Programs,Regional Characteristics,Differences,American Indian Reservations,Age Differences,Housing,Family (Sociological Unit),Family Income,Academic Achievement,Language Skills,Early Childhood Education,Student Participation,American Indian Education,Family Life

Using a longitudinal dataset created through the linkage of the 2006 Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS; formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples Survey) and the 2016 long-form Census, this study examines childhood factors that are associated with the completion of a high school diploma or equivalency certificate or higher among off-reserve First Nations, Métis and Inuit children. The report presents childhood characteristics correlated with high school completion or higher by Indigenous group. Further, using a pooled sample, it examines the association between childhood factors and the outcome using multivariate analysis to account for confounding factors. Indigenous children living in some regions were more likely to complete high school or higher than those in other regions. First Nations (55.0%) and Métis children (66.3%) living in the Prairies region, were less likely to have completed high school or higher by 2016 compared with those in Ontario (68.9% and 77.5%, respectively). Inuit children who were living in Inuit Nunangat (38.1%) were less likely to complete high school or higher education than those living outside Inuit Nunangat (66.5%). Among First Nations and Métis boys and girls, those who were older were almost twice as likely to have completed high school or greater education compared with younger ones. Among Inuit, older boys (56.5%) were more likely to complete high school or higher than younger ones (29.7%E), but this relationship was not seen among girls. In all three groups, children living in suitable housing (i.e., not in crowded housing), were more likely to complete high school or higher education than those in unsuitable housing. This was evident among both Métis and Inuit boys and girls, but only among First Nations boys. The suitability of the housing did not play a significant role in First Nations girls completing high school or higher education. First Nations and Métis children who lived in two-parent households were more likely to complete high school or greater education than those in lone-parent households, but this relationship was not seen among Inuit children. Results of the logistic regression model show that age, household crowding, household income, and academic performance as children are associated with having completed high school or higher education. Older children had nearly three times higher odds (Odds ratio1 or OR=2.75) than those who were younger to have completed high school or higher education. Indigenous boys who lived in unsuitable housing during childhood had nearly half the odds (OR=0.52) of completing high school or higher education than those who lived in suitable housing. While a trend towards increasing odds of high school completion or higher was seen with increasing household income, it was only among Indigenous girls that a significant result was observed. Those living in the third (OR=2.67) and fourth (OR=4.23) quartile of household income had about three and four times, respectively, higher odds of completing high school or higher education compared with those in first quartile of household income. Finally, perceived academic performance in childhood was predictive of high school completion or greater education. In fact, odds of completion increased with increasing academic performance. Boys whose performance was very good during childhood had twice the odds (OR=2.17) of completing high school or higher education than those whose performance was average. In contrast, girls whose performance was very poor or poor had 73% lower odds of completing this level of education than girls whose performance was average. After adjusting for other childhood factors, region of residence, household type, familial residential school experience, prior attendance in an early childhood development program and ability to speak and/or understand an Indigenous language were not significantly associated with completion of high school or greater education. The findings of the study are in line with previous research and offer potential policy levers for developing programs and policies to increase the rates of high school completion or higher education among First Nations children living off reserve, Métis and Inuit children. [Funding for this study was provided by Indigenous Services Canada.]