Table 1.

Demographic characteristics of the sample (N = 309) in comparison to population estimates for Canadian women

Variable	WHES sample	Canadian womena
Education
Less than high school  High school  Some post-secondary	16.6 % 22.2 % 61.3 %	14.5 % 25.0 % 60.5 %b
Employment
Employed  Social assistance  Disability benefit	45.1 % 31.4 % 10.4 %	57.5 % 4.3 %c 2.7 %
Low income	59.0 %	11.4 %d
Rural residence	23.0 %	26.5 %
Visible minority	16.8 %	16.2 %
Aboriginal	7.4 %	4.0 %

^aAuthors’ calculations of raw data (Statistics Canada 1993 and 2006 Census) for women age 18–65 unless otherwise indicated

^bStatistics Canada (2006a)

^cGeneral Social Survey (Statistics Canada 2003)

^dCollin and Jensen 2009)