B.C.’s living wage increases amid grocery and housing costs: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Posted November 17, 2022 8:33 pm.
Last Updated November 17, 2022 8:36 pm.
Bills, gas and groceries are just a few expenses that British Columbians face on a daily basis, but rising inflation is driving up how much money people need to make ends meet.
The living wage for people to meet basic needs in Metro Vancouver has reached an all-time high, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
In Metro Vancouver, the living wage has increased by over three-and-a-half dollars from last year, the biggest yearly spike since the wage was first calculated in 2008.
“The living wage is the hourly wage that two parents working full-time need to earn to support a family of four,” the CCPA explained.
“Enough for a family with two young children to cover necessities, support the healthy development of their children, escape severe financial stress and participate in the social, civic and cultural lives of their communities. It affords a decent but still very modest standard of living, without the extras many take for granted,” Living Wage for Families BC said on their website.
The CCPA says the necessary living wage has increased across the province, and the main focus is on providing food and shelter.
Last year, the living wage for Metro Vancouver was at $20.52 per hour, and has now increased to $24.08 per hour.
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In Victoria, the living wage is higher than Metro Vancouver’s for the first time, and the CCPA says this is due to the increased cost of food on Vancouver Island.
Anastasia French, the provincial manager for Living Wage for Families BC, says the cost of living is forcing many families to cut back on essentials.
The provincial minimum wage for B.C. is $15.65, after a 45 cent increase in June of 2021. The hourly wage ranks in the top three minimum wages across Canada.
But the CCPA says the over eight dollar difference between the minimum and living wages is “strikingly large.”
“If a family was trapped trying to survive on that, that means that they have to work additional hours. It means they have to make compromises and sacrifices on their standards of living, or living in overcrowded housing,” French said.
She adds families may have “to cut back on essentials like food.”
Putting food on the table
Grocery prices have been rising at the fastest pace in decades — faster than the overall rate of inflation for eleven straight months, and many Vancouverites have already needed to make changes to spending habits.
French says many are left to make hard decisions over where to spend their paychecks.
“It’s a difficult decision that families face every single day who are earning less than a living wage. Do they pay for gas? Do they pay for groceries? Do they pay for the bills? Where do they cut back?” she said.
“These are really difficult decisions that many many families across B.C. are having to make and more families are having to make it than ever before because the cost of living has increased at the rate that it has.”
The CCPA says “food is the second-highest cost for families in most communities, only exceeded by the cost of housing.”
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A recent poll shows many living in Vancouver are concerned about keeping a roof above their heads.
The poll was conducted by Habitat for Humanity and Leger, and it found 49 per cent of Vancouverites are concerned about their ability to pay their rent or mortgage over the next year. Nationally, that figure was just 40 per cent.
“More families are having to move than ever before, that’s where they’re really seeing their cost of housing increase, and that’s where we’re really seeing the increase in the cost of rental in our living wage family budget,” French said.
Although she says inflation will likely decrease across the country, peoples’ expenses will still be high.
“The reality is that costs aren’t gonna go down so people’s rents aren’t going to get cheaper. The cost of food isn’t going to get cheaper,” she said.
However, Living Wage for Families BC says some employers across the provinces have adopted “living wage policies,” including Burnaby, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Quesnel, Vancouver and Victoria.
With files from Mike Lloyd, Greg Bowman
