Voices Matter: The Impact of Serious Legal Problems on 16- to 30-year-olds in the Black Community

Study Results

Online Survey Responses

Thirty-four people completed the survey data. The responses of the 33 people who fall within the study’s parameters are included here in the analysis of demographics and frequency of serious legal problems.

Age and Gender

Respondents ranged from 16 to 30 years old. Sixty percent of the respondents identified as women. All respondents identified as Black, some giving more specific identities such as “Black / Afro-Canadian” or “Jamaican.” One respondent identified as “Mixed (White & Black).”

Living Situation

All but one respondent described themselves as single, the other person listing themselves as part of a common-law relationship. Three respondents each have one child, and one respondent has two children. Eighty-eight percent of respondents do not have children.

When asked about their living situation, most responded that they live with their parents / siblings (62 percent), and the rest of the participants live with other family members, friends, a partner, or live alone. Almost all (97 percent) respondents live in rented homes, while three percent live in a home that they or their family owns.

Financial Products

Most respondents used financial products. They include: credit cards, cell phones (either in their own name or on someone else’s plan), and bank accounts. Only three respondents (nine percent) use no financial products.

Work status

Respondents were asked about their employment status. Just under half (44 percent) are currently attending school, 17 percent are working full time, and a third (32 percent) are working part time. A small number (six percent) care for children full time and 12 percent are currently looking for work. Five respondents were laid off due to the COVID pandemic.

Income level

Respondents were asked to identify their household income level according to the Ontario Legal Aid eligibility thresholds. Seventeen people indicated that their household made less than the threshold for their family size. The rest of the participants did not know their household income level.

Type and Frequency of Legal Problem

Respondents were asked to identify the type and frequency of serious legal problems they had experienced in the last three years. Only one person, a 16-year-old male, did not identify a serious legal problem in the last three years. He did not participate in the focus group.

The most common types of legal problems were experiences of discrimination in public settings (48 percent), issues with housing (44 percent), police contact (40 percent), and employment issues (36 percent). No respondents identified legal problems related to estates or trusteeing a loved one’s finances or being sued or suing someone in civil or small claims court. Two of the three people who disclosed that they have children listed child custody or child support issues.