Clinton News Record, 2015-07-01, Page 3Huron -Perth living wage is $16.47: SRPC report
Laura Broadley
Clinton News Record
The living wage for Huron and
Perth Counties is $16.47 per
hour in 2015, according to a
report released by the Social
Research & Planning Council
(SRPC).
The report, entitled A living
wage: What it takes to make ends
meet in Perth and Huron Coun-
ties, was released last
Wednesday.
The SRPC, a division of United
Way Perth -Huron, partnered
with the Regional Labour Market
Strategy project for Perth County
and the Huron County Health
Unit to investigate the living
wage for the two counties.
Tracy Birtch, director of the
SRPC, said that one of the big
findings of the last report on
quality of life in the area was
that people were working a lot
for low wages.
The SRPC wanted to investi-
gate how people were manag-
ing with that type of work and
what the wage rate was for peo-
ple to make ends meet.
The calculated living wage is
the hourly wage a worker needs
to support a family consisting
of two 35 -year-old parents
working full-time, a 7 -year-old
child and a 3 -year-old child.
There isn't a big difference
between the financial needs of
a family of four and other fam-
ily types, which is why the
report focuses on just one fam-
ily structure, explained Janice
Dunbar, chair of the living
wage sub -committee.
The calculation was in accord-
ance with Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
methodology. The CCPA's
Ontario office specializes in pro-
vincial and municipal issues and
provides independent and non-
partisan research.
"This is a well thought out pro-
cess," said Ryan Erb, executive
director of United Way Huron -
Perth. "It's actually a standard
way of calculating living wage
that has been used across
Canada?'
The living wage calculation
include the following costs per
month for the family of four:
Food ($701) based on the
Nutritious Food Basket survey
conducted by the public health
units.
Clothing and footwear
($154).
Housing and related costs
($1,182) including rent, utili-
ties, furnishings, tenant insur-
ance, phone and internet.
Transportation ($929)
including the cost of operating
a used vehicle (one in Stratford
and two in rural areas), transit
passes and occasional taxes
trips (for Stratford only).
Childcare and school fees
($1,187 before subsidies)
including daycare, before/after
school care, recreation pro-
grams in the summer and PA
days and basic school supplies
and fees. It takes into consider-
ation available childcare
subsidies.
Our next step is to
really take this out
there and present it to
the community, to
organizations, to
whoever that would
be willing to listen,
just so they can start
understanding the
actual cost of living.
— Tracy Birtch,
director of the SRPC
Recreation and leisure ($323)
for an occasional family outing,
a modest restaurant meal once
a month, a family pass to the
YMCA, a one-week camping
trip and a one-week
"staycation':
Medical, dental, disability and
life insurance ($467) assuming
that the family does not have
access to benefits through work.
Laundry, personal care, one
continuing education course
and bank fees ($276).
Contingency ($209) as four
per cent of household budget for
job loss and illness.
It is a "bare bones" budget,
according to the SRPC.
Erb said that for some people
the conversation is about put-
ting food on the table and even
employed people struggle with
having enough food to eat.
Loan and interest payments,
retirement savings, owning a
home, saving for children's
future education, pets, social
outings with friends, personal
lifestyle behaviours like smok-
ing, costs of caring for a disa-
bled, seriously ill or elderly
family and anything other than
a small amount of savings for
emergencies are not included
in the calculation.
The living wage is based on
the Canadian Living Wage
Framework and accounts for a
family's annual expenses after
government taxes, benefits and
payroll deductions.
The SRPC said that there is a
common misconception that a
living wage would increase the
overall cost of living for the
whole community. It said that
the prices of, for example, a cup
of coffee, go up for a variety of
reasons and aren't a direct result
of increased wages.
Poor physical and mental
heath, low levels of education
attainment and increases in
homelessness are some of the
social costs of low wages,
according to the SRPC.
"Poverty costs us substantially
as a society. The cost to the indi-
vidual is great, the cost to the
wider society is also great," Erb
said.
In Huron and Perth approxi-
mately half of all households
have a total income below the
annual living wage rate of
$60,000.
Employers across the region,
technical training groups, pro-
viders of various employment
services were among those who
participated in focus groups.
The report indicated that
workers in the accommodation
and food service, retail trade
and agriculture industries
account for the majority of
people earning lower than the
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living wage.
These industries, along with
small non-profit groups, would
feel the biggest impact from a
living wage. This could mean a
reduction in services or staffing
for groups with fixed budgets.
"We recognize that there's
challenges with this conversa-
tion," Erb said.
The SRPC said the consulted
employers, who already paid liv-
ing wage, reported lower turno-
ver and absenteeism rates and
greater employee engagement.
Shelley Groenestege, a local
construction business owner,
said that having a concrete num-
ber stops businesses from hav-
ing to guess at what to pay their
employees.
"We're not saying it's a high
standard but it's better than a
minimum wage," Groenestege.
The SRPC has recommended
five actions as a result of the con-
clusions drawn from the report;
establishment of a public commu-
nications campaign to raise
awareness, update and publicize
the living wage calculation on an
annual basis, recruit local busi-
nesses to help advocate about the
importance of living wages, inves-
tigate the barriers to implement-
ing a living wage and continued
support of the living wage
movement.
The SRPC has grown its man-
date to work to implement the
recommendations, said Erb.
Birtch said the priority is to
create a public conversation.
"Our next step is to really take
this out there and present it to
the community, to organiza-
tions, to whoever that would be
willing to listen, just so they can
start understanding the actual
cost of living," said Birtch
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