Living Wage Rate Slips in North Central BC
Prince George, B.C.- For the first time in the 8 years it has been calculated in B.C., the “Living Wage” has decreased in North Central BC.
According to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ BC office, First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition and the Living Wage for Families Campaign, two working parents raising two children in Prince George need to have a wage of $16.52 an hour in order to meet basic expenses. That’s a drop of 30 cents from the living wage rate of $16.82 recorded in 2015.
The decrease is largely a result of the expansion of the Child Benefit announced in the Federal budget.
Child care and housing remain the largest costs in the living wage calculation. While the cost of shelter has decreased slightly, child care expenses have climbed by $118 per month in the North Central BC region. The overall increase in expenses was 4.49%, well above the general inflation rate in this province of 1.1%.
Below is the report’s chart of expenses for a family of four in North Central BC in 2016:
Comments
So where is income tax, CPP and EI showing. A person making 30889.25 per year, has to pay 1355.75 into the CPP. After child care deduction, they have taxable income of 23901.25. After allowing for employment credit, cpp credit there’s another $1,900.00 in taxes, then whatever EI is, I think it’s another $600.00. Seems they would need $20.00 pre-tax, to get these amounts post-tax.
I would like to know where one can find housing as listed above for a mere 1,78.00 per month for 3 bedrooms, utilities and insurance. No way.
What does a 3 bedroom go for these days? 1300?
I think it would be difficult to find something less than 1500, PLUS utilities and insurance. And even that is being generous.
oops, $1,078.00 **
we knew what you meant and were thinking the exact same thing….certainly not a reality in PG
That’s approximately what I pay per month for my 3 bedroom house. “Shelter” doesn’t mean you’re renting.
Very true axman, but I don’t believe it is fair to assume everyone, especially the younger generation, is in a position to own a home, especially not in today’s market, and if they do manage to secure a mortgage, the likelihood of coming in at that amount is slim to none. Unless, of course, they have a huge down payment and the income to manage paying the property taxes and city utilities. How likely is that? Wasn’t an issue back when I purchased my home, it was doable, but now? It’s much more difficult. 1078 is not a reasonable amount to expect to pay for housing. It’s just not realistic.
The 1078 figure is the average. (or the mean, or the median, they don’t really say). It may not be realistic for a portion of the population but it is what it is.
So what’s the solution? Seems to me there has to be a way to raise incomes WITHOUT raising the costs they’re a part of commensurately. Considering only that any raise in incomes is a rise in ‘gross’ costs to the source paying them, which are over and above the actual increase in the gross income itself, while the recipient of the income only gets the ‘net’ amount of any raise as actual additional purchasing power, and it’s those ‘gross’ costs that have to be recovered in prices, it seems like that route is pretty well self-defeating.
So why do we waste our time calling for such things as an increase in the minimum wage, or all wages, for that matter, if history indicates that’s NOT the solution? To wit:- “Wasn’t an issue back when I purchased my home, it was doable, but now? It’s much more difficult.”
Of course we could follow the trail to another dead end, (which we’ll probably do, first, and discover that the hard way), and believe that the “poor are poor because the rich are rich”, which might have some basis in truth if ‘money’ and ‘wealth’ were both actually FIXED and LIMITED and neither could ever be increased. But are they?
So why do we waste our time calling for such things as an increase in
the minimum wage, or all wages, for that matter.
So the poor get richer and the rich get less rich.
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