New interactive map highlights income inequalities between N.B. neighbourhoods

A new online map is making data about average household income, employment status and education in different New Brunswick neighbourhoods more accessible.

The map was launched earlier this month by the Human Development Council, a group based in Saint John that aims to identify and address social issues in the province through research.

"This kind of data is useful for a whole bunch of projects and work that goes on in a province," said Liam Fisher, the group's data analyst and research coordinator.

"Every regional service commission has a community developer, cities have social inclusion teams, all kinds of initiatives are targeted and place-based."

Colin Ingraham, a summer intern and the project lead, said the map is based on data from Statistics Canada 2021 census.

The map breaks down a variety of socio-economic indicators: low income status, children per household, one-parent families, the number of renters in a neighbourhood and the percentage of seniors.

"I think what the data clearly shows is poverty is not just the absence of income," Fisher said.

"Things like one-parent families and unemployment, and low income, and housing status … these things tend to correlate together."

Across all of New Brunswick's three main cities, there are clear discrepancies between cities and suburbs, and cities and their urban core, said Fisher.

"Suburbs tend to have better socioeconomic status than do cities themselves," he said.

He pointed to the example of Saint John when compared to its neighbouring suburbs like Rothesay and Quispamsis.

He explained this is because suburbs lack things like public transportation and affordable housing.

"That's also going to mean that it's typically closed off for residents with lower income and then it's kind of a self-leading cycle," he said.

Another discrepancy the map highlighted is inequalities within cities themselves.

"Within each of the cities, there's usually an urban core and that urban core tends to have the highest concentration of poverty," Fisher said.

That's because the urban core tends to be where most social services are located.

"If the services that those residents need are in those neighborhoods, then that means they're forced to live in those neighborhoods."

The map can be found on the organization's website and is called the Key Indicators Dissemination Areas Dashboard.