40-year inflation high, rising costs of housing and food affect all B.C. communities that calculate the living wage.

The living wage has gone up to $21.90 an hour in Cranbrook for 2022, a significant increase over the 2017 rate, this year’s Living Wage Update report shows. The last time the living wage was calculated and verified in Cranbrook was five years ago, and it was $14.26 an hour at that time.

The living wage is the hourly wage that two parents working full-time need to earn to support a family of four. Cranbrook has seen a 53.6% increase from five years ago. Other communities across the province that have seen staggering living wage increases include Kelowna at $4.39 (23.7%) higher than last year’s rate of $18.49, Victoria at $3.83 (18.7%) higher than last year’s $20.46 and Metro Vancouver $3.56 (17.3%) higher than last year’s $20.52.

This year the living wage has increased across B.C. in all of the communities where it has been calculated in the past and is driven by two essentials that every family needs: food and shelter.

“With general inflation shooting up to a 40-year high this year, and with the cost of food rising even faster and rent increasing everywhere, especially for families that need to move and are no longer protected by rent control, it’s not surprising to see such big increases this year,” said Anastasia French, Living Wage for Families provincial manager.

The price of groceries needed for a healthy diet for a family with two young children has spiked sharply this year, according to the latest BC food costing survey data.

Donna Fields of United Way British Columbia – East Kootenay said the huge jump in the local cost of living is having an effect on all families, but most especially for families on a low income. In response to the announcement Fields stated, “The social sector here doesn’t have the capacity to calculate the living wage annually, so this updated number after a few years is a real shock.”

In Cranbrook, food costs $1,173.51 per month, an increase of $309.28 per month or 35.8% since 2017. Food is the second-highest cost in most communities, only exceeded by the cost of housing. Food used to be the third-most expensive item but has now edged ahead of child care costs after the B.C. government made major investments in child care affordability in 2018 that significantly reduced out-of-pocket child care costs for the living wage family, French said.

“Until this year the living wage across most of B.C. remained below its 2018 peak because policy changes introduced by the B.C. provincial government significantly improved affordability for families with young children and offset increases in the cost of food, housing and other essentials,” said report lead author Iglika Ivanova, senior economist at CCPA-BC.

“However, the savings generated by these policy changes, including significant child care investments and the elimination of MSP premiums, have now been effectively wiped out by ballooning rent and food costs,” she added.

The living wage is enough for a family with two young children to cover necessities, support the healthy development of their children, escape severe financial stress and participate in the social, civic and cultural lives of their communities. It affords a decent but still very modest standard of living, without the extras many take for granted, French explains.

A strikingly large gap exists between the 2022 living wages for communities across B.C. and the province’s minimum wage (currently $15.65 per hour).

While many B.C. employers see the value of paying living wages (with nearly 400 certified Living Wage Employers across the province), Ivanova explains the labour market alone cannot solve all problems of poverty and social exclusion.

“Good public policy can make life more affordable for families and when government transfers don’t keep up with the rising cost of living, the families hardest hit are headed by already marginalized earners, including single mothers, Indigenous people and recent immigrants,” Ivanova said.

Living wage employers include small businesses, non-profit organizations, unions and cooperatives. These employers have committed to pay all their direct staff and contract employees a living wage and to require their major service providers to also pay a living wage, including for janitorial, security and food service contracts.

For more information please contact the Community Social Planning Society of Cranbrook and Area by email: [email protected]

e-KNOW file photo

United Way British Columbia – East Kootenay

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