The minimum wage is set to hit $17.40 per hour in B.C. but hundreds of thousands of B.C. workers continue to find themselves under financial stress with relatively low unlivable wages.
Despite the minimum wage increasing 3.9 per cent this weekend, 740,000 British Columbians, or one-third of the employed population, are earning less than a so-called “living wage” — the amount of money necessary for two people to raise two children in a given community, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives B.C.
A living wage varies by community, and factors in local housing costs and expenses like food and child care. It assumes workers take public transportation, take a “modest” vacation, and accounts for government supports, such as the Child Tax Benefit. It does not cover debt payments, savings for retirement, or savings for a down payment on a home; nor would it cover any extra costs of caring for disabled, seriously ill or elderly family members.
“In the current affordability crisis, workers are stuck in the gap between the living wage and the minimum wage and face impossible choices — buy groceries or heat the house, keep up with bills or pay the rent on time,” said Anastasia French, Living Wage for Families BC provincial manager, via a joint press release with Ivanova Thursday.
Furthermore, 59 per cent of those earning less than $20 per hour are women; six per cent of such earners identify as Indigenous.
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