BC Child Care Investments played a major role in lowering the 2019 living wage in Prince George according to the Living Wage for Families Campaign.
This year’s rate for the North Central Region is the lowest in the province at $14.03, down from last year’s mark of $16.51.
Spokesperson Cori Ramsay tells MyPrinceGeorgeNow.com there is one catch when it comes to the Advanced Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Free Reduction Initiative.
“One of the new things with that child subsidy limit is that you have to apply for it, which a lot of families don’t know because if you don’t apply for it, you’re not going to get that additional government tax transfer, which means you won’t be saving the additional money meaning the living wage will be going up for you.”
If you applied for these benefits, the living wage family saved nearly $9000.
However, according to the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, shelter continues to be one of the most expensive items, they say a three-bedroom apartment is costing an average of a thousand dollars.
Ramsay believes that number is a little bit higher.
“Well, we know that it’s a little bit more than that. You can barely find a one bedroom in Prince George right now for $1200 but because we can only use reliable data sources, given this calculation there is some fluctuation.”
Stats Canada also reported that 30 percent of two-parent, two-child families had incomes below this year’s living wage.
The report is based around that demographic.
Living wages across the province have seen a comparable decrease from numbers from last year: Columbia Valley ($15.92), Comox Valley ($15.28), Cranbrook ($14.38), Fraser Valley ($15.54), Greater Trail ($18.83), Greater Victoria ($19.39), Kamloops ($14.38), Nelson ($18.46), Metro Vancouver ($19.50), Parksville-Qualicum ($15.81) and Revelstoke ($18.90).
Working poverty is a Canada-wide issue. Over 50 communities across the country, including the 18 in BC, have living wage campaigns and are advocating to improve quality of life for low-wage workers.
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