Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the unmatched analytic samples
| USA (NHIS 2003–2014) | Canada (CCHS 2003–2014) | |||||||
| Employed | Unemployed | Employed | Unemployed | |||||
| Recipients | Non-recipients | Recipients | Non-recipients | Recipients | Non-recipients | Recipients | Non-recipients | |
| n=1026 | n=14 561 | n=609 | n=3625 | n=1746 | n=8279 | n=1556 | n=1021 | |
| Age (years) | 32.6 | 34.3 | 31.8 | 34.8 | 39.7 | 39.6 | 38.9 | 37.8 |
| Female (%) | 73.7 | 56.4 | 72.7 | 54.7 | 63.9 | 57.0 | 51.2 | 54.3 |
| Household type (%) | ||||||||
| Single | 7.7 | 36.3 | 12.3 | 36.0 | 45.9 | 35.6 | 51.0 | 40.2 |
| Couple | 3.9 | 11.5 | 5.1 | 16.6 | 5.8 | 12.5 | 6.4 | 10.4 |
| Single with children | 49.8 | 21.4 | 48.4 | 20.0 | 34.3 | 18.0 | 29.8 | 21.2 |
| Couple with children | 38.6 | 30.7 | 34.2 | 27.4 | 14.0 | 33.8 | 12.8 | 28.3 |
| Number of children (0–18 years) | 1.94 | 1.15 | 1.83 | 0.94 | ||||
| Number of children (0–5 years) | 0.302 | 0.278 | 0.290 | 0.215 | ||||
| Number of children (6–11 years) | 0.346 | 0.331 | 0.276 | 0.214 | ||||
| Race (%) | ||||||||
| White | 27.0 | 38.4 | 21.2 | 34.3 | 78.8 | 74.2 | 74.1 | 68.1 |
| Black† | 29.9 | 20.0 | 44.0 | 31.8 | ||||
| Aboriginal | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 12.0 | 5.6 | 13.2 | 7.9 |
| Asian† | 2.8 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 4.7 | ||||
| Hispanic† | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | ||||
| Other or mixed | 30.2 | 28.1 | 38.6 | 35.6 | 9.2 | 20.2 | 12.7 | 24.0 |
| Immigrant (%) | 19.0 | 25.6 | 27.9 | 34.2 | 10.7 | 24.8 | 14.4 | 27.7 |
| Education (%) | ||||||||
| Postsecondary degree | 3.1 | 11.4 | 2.6 | 7.8 | 5.1 | 14.6 | 6.7 | 17.4 |
| Some postsecondary | 30.6 | 30.7 | 25.1 | 27.5 | 33.2 | 35.6 | 32.5 | 30.3 |
| Secondary | 28.8 | 28.6 | 30.9 | 33.3 | 26.9 | 29.1 | 24.9 | 30.5 |
| Less than secondary | 37.5 | 29.3 | 41.4 | 31.4 | 34.9 | 20.6 | 35.9 | 21.8 |
| Adjusted household income‡ | 8807 | 8953 | 8065 | 8575 | ||||
| Urban§ (%) | 84.7 | 81.7 | 83.3 | 83.8 | ||||
| Health insurance coverage¶ (%) | 68.3 | 52.0 | 78.0 | 45.3 | ||||
| Home owner (%) | 9.6 | 22.2 | 7.6 | 20.2 | 13.5 | 50.4 | 13.1 | 41.4 |
| Part-time employment (%) | 54.9 | 45.2 | 58.6 | 27.8 | ||||
| Mental health problem (%) | 4.8 | 2.2 | 6.2 | 5.1 | 30.5 | 12.9 | 30.2 | 19.9 |
| Region (%) | ||||||||
| Northeast (USA)/Atlantic (CA) | 16.8 | 12.9 | 19.7 | 11.5 | 13.5 | 9.2 | 15.0 | 11.3 |
| Midwest (USA)/Prairies (CA) | 21.2 | 20.4 | 25.0 | 21.5 | 18.0 | 23.3 | 12.1 | 13.6 |
| South (USA)/Quebec (CA) | 23.8 | 41.5 | 21.5 | 43.8 | 25.0 | 19.1 | 32.8 | 18.0 |
| West (USA)/Ontario (CA) | 38.2 | 25.3 | 33.8 | 23.1 | 30.5 | 31.7 | 28.5 | 36.4 |
| British Columbia (CA) | 13.0 | 16.8 | 11.6 | 20.7 | ||||
*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
†Due to small sample sizes, we were not able to include these categories in the Canadian sample; instead, they are combined with the ‘other’ category.
‡Continuous income data are not available in the NHIS public microdata file. We were able to identify the lowest decile of NHIS respondents using the available poverty ratio variable. However, we are unable to describe differences in household income within the lowest decile.
§The NHIS does not provide a variable to define urban versus rural living.
¶Due to universal public healthcare coverage, this variable was not used in the analysis of the CCHS.
NHIS, National Health Interview Survey; CCHS, Canadian Community Health Survey.