If you’re making less than twenty dollars an hour, you’re having a tough time getting by according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that looks at how much you need to earn to make a “living wage” – the hourly rate at which a household can meets its basic needs.
The agency found the living wage for a family of two working parents with young children in Metro Vancouver is 19 dollars 62 cents. That’s up almost 50 cents from last year, or 2.5 per cent, which is almost double the rate of inflation.
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In the Fraser Valley the living wage was is 16 dollars and 37 cents hour, and 18 dollars 73 in Greater Victoria.
The report claims the living wage of 19 dollars 62 cents means families can afford a maximum of $775 a month for food and $1,440 a month for shelter.
The living wage only covers basics, such as shelter, food, clothing, education, childcare, and health and doesn’t include things like paying off credit card debt, student loans, holidays or mortgage payments.
The report says that families working for low wages face impossible choices, and that results in spiraling debt, anxiety and health problems.
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