Social and equity issues

What is it?

People with diverse backgrounds and identities will experience barriers and vulnerabilities to accessing financial systems in different ways. This page describes some of these unique issues to better understand their perspectives.

Articles

This Articles section includes research papers, news articles, and other information published on the Internet.

• “Greater Economic Inclusion means more opportunities for immigrants and refugees – and a stronger Canada” by Windmill Microlending. Article reinforcing the importance of newcomers to Canada and their role in a healthy economy.

• “Financial Barriers for Students with Non-Apparent Disabilities within Canadian Postsecondary Education” by Tony Chambers, et. al / Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability. A study examining the education-related debt, and the process of acquiring accommodations for students with non-visble and visible disabilities in Canadian postsecondary education. The findings for students with non-apparent disabilities and medical disabilities suggest a need for further investigation and potential policy implications for these specific cohorts of students.

• “Achieving Equality through Financial Inclusion” by Hamed Arbabi / Forbes. Article describing how the financial sector can address equality issues by using approaches such as digital payments, financial literacy, and new services with lower bars to entry.

• “Addressing Financial Barriers to Health Care Among People Who are Low-Income and Insured in New York City, 2014–2017”, by Taylor L. Frazier, et. al / National Library of Medicine. A paper compiling findings describing financial barriers to health care experienced by public housing residents with low household incomes and health insurance in New York City.

• “Part 1: Barriers to Financial Inclusion for People with Disabilities” by Jody Blaylock / Financial Inclusion for All. A blog article about digital barriers to access facing people with disabilities.

• “Barriers to Economic Security: Disability, Employment, and Asset Disparities in Canada” by Michelle Maroto, David Pettinicchio. A study examining the complex relationship between households with a disability, employment, and assets.

• “Five challenges prevent financial access for people in developing countries” by Gloria M. Grandolini / World Bank. An article that highlights 5 specific barriers encountered by developing nations, including gender and rural inequality, protections and regulations, and financial inclusion.

• “Barriers to basic financial services perpetuate persistent economic gaps” by Charles Davidson / Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The article explores the impact of race in accessing credit, financial services, home ownership, privacy, and accessing loans and money.

• “Banks facing calls to address Racial Barriers” by Melissa Shin / Advisor’s Edge. Article outlines how banks are dealing with systemic racism, and how it affects their customer service and lending practices. In particular the article cites challenges faced by black female entrepreneurs when accessing financial services such as securing loans. Banks offer unconscious bias training for employees, but advocates argue that more can be done.

• “Strategies to ensure young persons with disabilities are included in the future of work” by Institute for Work & Health. Report that documents the challenges and opportunities for organizations seeking to employ young people that include the use of technology (like AI) and HR practices.

• “Case Study: Niagara Region's Poverty Reduction Strategy” by Tamarack Institute. A case study into a collaborative community approach to develop a poverty reduction strategy for the Niagara Region in Ontario. The case study includes methods used, findings, and indicators.

• “What is Social Prescribing?” by Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing. Social prescribing is an approach in the healthcare system that is relevant and adaptable to addressing financial inclusion. Social prescribing is a way to meet an individual's needs with care providers, service professionals, and community resources and support.

• “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist” by Kate Raworth. A book by economist Kate Raworth which describes a social-economic model bounded by social and ecological thresholds. This model can be used to model and identify shortfalls and inequalities, and create more sustainable.

• “Financing SMEs in Canada: Barriers Faced by Women, Youth, Aboriginal and Minority Entrepreneurs in Accessing Capital — Phase 1: Literature Review“ by Dr. Ted Heidrick, Tracey Nicol / Government of Canada. A literature review of the financial access for Canadian SMEs. Specifically focused on the obstacles to financing based on gender, youth, aboriginal, visible minority and language minority business ownership.

• “Impact of Access to Financial Services, including by highlighting Remittances on Development: Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth“ by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations. Remittances may be a source of demand for financial services and contributor to financial inclusion. However, governments will need to implement well-designed comprehensive policies to nurture the financial systems/services, financial literacy and consumer empowerment needed.

• “The Exclusionary politics of Digital Financial Inclusion: Mobile Money, Gendered Walls“ by Serena Natile. This  book  provides a  feminist  critique  of digital  financial  inclusion  which  considers  the  history  of  colonialism,  the implications  of  development  discourses  and  interventions,  and  structural inequalities and power relations. It does this through a focus on Kenya’s digital financial project, M-Pesa, which uses the mobile phone infrastructure to provide access to money transfers and financial services.

• “What Are Financial Barriers?“ by Gregory Hamel / Sapling. A basic understanding of what financial barriers are. Breaking the phrase down to the basics - the inability to access or utilize a financial service/tool. This takes various forms of identity through the various strata and situations.

• “OMHA, KidSport team up to remove financial barriers for youth“ by OrilliaMatters Staff / Elliot Lake Today. KidSport provides funding for children under the age of 18 to participate in a full season of sport. In 2019, the organization offered more than $8.3 million to kids across Canada. KidSport believes when kids have access to sport they improve in school, become stronger leaders, create safer communities, ignite inclusivity and fuel healthy habits for life.

• “Understanding Structural Barriers & Hidden Bias in Access to Credit for Women-Led Businesses“ by Value for Women. This paper highlights barriers facing women-led small enterprises across the developing world, identifies gender and ethnic biases, presents a case study in Guatemala that seeks to test for bias in banking-lending and provides recommendations for policymakers and financial institutions.

Experiences

This Experiences section includes stories, perspectives, and experiences submitted by people experiencing disabilities or is Deaf. Where necessary, personal information have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

• Jose was not able to monitor his VISA card records because they didn’t work with his alternative access system, as a result there were numerous invalid charges. He can’t contest them because it requires a phone call, and he is non-speaking.

• Rebecca is threatened with losing her disability pension because she can’t complete the financial reporting forms which are incompatible with her speech recognition system.

• Silvia and her husband have been consistently denied loans or credit despite sufficient collateral because she has an unusual earnings history due to her episodic disability.

• Firsthand stories about the impacts and benefits of accessible housing at Accessible Housing Network.

• A story about two women from Nova Scotia who applied for MAiD after the province refused to fund out-of-province healthcare. The province has since reversed their position.

Other issues being raised or addressed

• This section is work in progress.

External groups

The External Groups section contains links to organizations or individuals who are working, advocating, or innovating in this space. The parties mentioned in this list are not endorsed by the IDRC.

• Accessible Housing Network - A collaboration of non-profit Canadian organizations, advocating in support of people of all ages to live as they wish, in housing that is fully accessible.

• Tamarack Institute - Tamarack is a non-profit seking to end poverty in all its forms through a community asset approach.

Contribute to this topic

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