Religious affiliation and employment of Canadian immigrant youth: a focus on Eastern religions

This paper addresses how Eastern religious affiliation is related to the employment likelihood of Canadian-born and immigrant youth both with and without a university education. Using the 2011 Canadian National Household Survey, we show that among members of Eastern religious groups, Muslims have the lowest levels of employment likelihood. This pattern holds for Canadian-born youth and immigrant youth, both with and without a university education. Multivariate analyses further confirm that the likelihood of being employed is lower for Muslim youth, except those who were Canadian-born, even when various educational and demographic factors are controlled for in the analysis. Implications are discussed.