Living Wage Basics
What is a Living Wage?
A Living Wage is the amount of income an individual or family requires to meet their basic needs, to maintain a safe, decent standard of living in their communities and to save for future needs and goals.
How much is a Living Wage?
Calgary’s Living Wage Action Team has determined that an individual working full time (35 hours per week, 52 weeks a year) needs to make a minimum of $12.25 per hour plus benefits (or $13.50 an hour in lieu of benefits) to earn a Living Wage in Calgary. This figure is based on the Statistics Canada 2008 before-tax Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) amount for an individual with no dependants.
Being paid less than a Living Wage means earning less than $22,295 each year, before taxes. As of April 1, 2009, minimum wage in Alberta is $8.80 per hour or $16,016 annually, before taxes. (Annual figures are based on a 35 hour work week, 52 weeks per year).
Who isn`t receiving a Living Wage?
- 65,000 (10.8%) of employed Calgarians over the age of 15 earn less than $12.25 per hour.
- Women are disproportionately represented among these low wage earners, with 42,500 earning less than $12.25 per hour.
- Low income earners are not just teenagers: 39,700 Calgarians over the age of 20 are trying to support themselves on less than $12.25 per hour
(Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Statistics Division, Labour Force Survey July – December 2008)
Why does everyone deserve a Living Wage?
- It’s the right thing to do: peole who work should not live in poverty
- It’s only fair: hard work should be rewarded with adequate pay and benefits
- The various services and facilities in our city require all kinds of workers with all kinds of skill levels. All Calgarians working full-time, no matter what job they do, no matter what kind of work, no matter what level of skill, should be able to, at a very minimum, afford their basic needs.
Do all Calgarians benefit when everyone earns a Living Wage?
- Employers that pay poverty wages pass the costs on to the city and the community in other ways, including homelessness; which costs Calgarians $323,678,948 annually (Source: The Calgary Homeless Foundation).
- Calgary’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness supports a Living Wage by committing to create opportunities for low income Calgarians to increase incomes in order to gain and retain housing.
- Low income employees spend their pay cheques locally. By paying a Living Wage, we help to stimulate our local economy.
- One in eight Calgary children live in poverty. (Source: Edmonton Social Planning Council). When we invest in low income employees, we are investing in their families and in our community.
