Table 2 How Social Determinants of Health Affected Immigrant and Refugee Youth Settlement in Canada
Narrative typology | Social determinants of health | How the social determinants of health affected youth settlement |
|---|---|---|
Chaos | Social support | • Post-migration: Limited social support and discrimination especially for youth who immigrated on their own and those with private sponsors. Separations from close families and friends led to chaos. |
Social network | • Post-migration: Limited social networks filled chaos narratives. Youth felt like ‘the outsider,’ discriminated against because they were newcomers, and struggled to fit in established networks. | |
Education | • Pre-immigration: Limited opportunities for good education. Interruptions in schooling. • Post-migration: Youth with limited English comprehension faced difficulties of accessing formal education. | |
Housing | • Pre-immigration: Experiences of war led to homelessness and living in refugee camps. • Post-migration: Getting decent housing was a challenge. Rent was very expensive for some of the youth. | |
Income and its distribution | • Pre-immigration- Poverty. • Post-immigration – Youth struggled with poverty, repayment of immigration fees, and the need to support their families. They found it difficult to make ends meet. | |
Employment and working conditions | • Pre-immigration: Unemployment and underemployment. • Post-immigration: Unemployment and underemployment. Youth with limited employment were challenged by limitations in language comprehension, the need to have their academic credentials validated, and questioned whether they were discriminated against because of their religion or ethnicity. | |
Quest | Social support | • Post-immigration: Youth sought for friendships and mentors to help them find a sense of belonging, overcome discrimination, and settle. |
Social network | • Post-migration: Youth sought for social networks by taking part in sports, community activities, and school clubs. | |
Education | • Pre-immigration: Youth and their parents made the decision to migrate to Canada where they could benefit from better educational opportunities. • Post-migration: Youth sought for language instruction, high school and post-secondary education. When they faced challenges in learning, they did not quit but persisted in their quest. Other youth sought newcomer organizations that provide language and educational support to newcomer families. | |
Income and its distribution | • Post-migration: Youth with limited family income sought for ways to raise income by working multiple jobs or selling proceeds from their talent work (e.g. artwork). | |
Employment and working conditions | • Post-migration: Youth sought for employment opportunities. Some of them sought for multiple jobs to raise enough income. | |
Restitution | Social support | • Post-immigration: Youth with families in the city and those who made friends with Canadian peers benefitted from their social support. Government Assisted Refugee youth benefitted from orientation and settlement support from immigration counselors. |
Social network | • Post-migration: youth established themselves in social networks in the communities leading to better settlement experiences and feelings of inclusion. | |
Education | • Post-migration: Access to good formal education opportunities and making progress towards desired careers. | |
Income and its distribution | • Post-migration: Youth appreciated the many opportunities to work and raise enough income to support themselves and their families. | |
Employment and working conditions | • Post-migration: Youth had several employment opportunities. Working gave youth a sense of joy, happiness, motivation, and relieved stress. |