New Brunswick’s living wage rates have increased by the largest amount ever due to historically high rates of inflation.
According to a recent report from the Human Development Council, a living wage shows the amount a household needs to make in order to meet its basic necessities and live respectably.
According to Randy Hatfield, the council’s executive director, “what we found in the last year is that the living wage rates we’ve calculated have climbed more than ever before, and I don’t think it would come as a surprise that it’s inflation-driven.”
The following is how the living wage was determined:
The biggest gain among the four cities, 11.8% or $2.20, was seen in Moncton.
According to the research, “the expense of living, in particular the costs of shelter, food, and transportation, has grown considerably.”
“The living wage will rise when the cost of living rises without an increase in income supports and programmes for working families.”
The Canadian Living Framework, which employs a reference family of four with two working adults and two small children, is used to compute rates.
According to a conservative estimate, “this amount of money would enable the reference family of four to live in a secure and reasonably priced location, eat healthily, have access to transportation, educate their children, and offer quality childcare and after-school care,” Hatfield stated.
The authors of the paper contend that mandating that firms voluntarily pay a livable wage is not a viable alternative to raising the minimum wage.
After a blip on October 1st
1. New Brunswick currently has the highest minimum wage in the Atlantic provinces at $13.75 per hour.
Advocates, however, are concerned about the substantial discrepancy between the minimum wage and the estimates of a livable wage.
Even with a recent raise, Peter Jongeneelen, co-chair of ACORN New Brunswick, claims that people on the minimum wage in New Brunswick still struggle to make ends meet.
“It certainly puts individuals who labour for meagre pay in a lot of danger.
Nobody should be forced to decide what needs to be paid first and what can wait. In an interview with Global News, he stated, “We’re seeing folks fall farther and further behind on their expenses.
While the dates for upcoming minimum wage increases in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador have been made public, plans for the following increase in New Brunswick are still a mystery.
This would be a great opportunity for the Higgs government to properly demonstrate that they are there to assist everyone, said Jongeneelen. “We should always consider the Maritime way is you help everyone out,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labor told Global News that the government was “working hard to reduce poverty in the province to help more New Brunswickers achieve a better quality of life” despite the fact that “we recognise the cost of living has increased.”
The statement goes on to cite other current government programmes, but it omits talk of raising the provincial minimum wage.
New Brunswick living wage rates are rising at a historic rate, according to a research
About Author
