While Alberta’s minimum wage has stayed at $15 per hour since 2018, the living wage in Calgary continues to rise. The Alberta Living Wage Network recently revealed that the living wage in Calgary is $24.45, 75 cents more than last year.
Some costs have gone down since last year. Childcare costs, in particular, have decreased thanks to the Federal-provincial childcare agreement, which offers parents $15 a day childcare.
Almost all other items on the household budget have gone up significantly in the past year, though. Housing costs have risen considerably. They’ve increased nearly 10% in Calgary in the past year. Over the past five years, shelter costs and food in Alberta have increased by 26%!
While people often think that minimum wage workers are fresh out of high school and living with their parents, Tessa Penich of Vibrant Communities Calgary tells me this is frequently not the case.
“Forty-eight percent of minimum wage workers are older than 24, and 66 percent are not students. People who are making low wages are likely to be spending almost 50 percent of their money on food and shelter,” she says.
What’s A Living Wage?
A city’s living wage is the amount a person must make per hour to thrive there. Sure, a person can survive on minimum wage if they have no children, can live with several other people to reduce housing costs, and rarely, if never, purchase new clothes.
For most people, though, living like this is not practical. We have kids and aging parents to care for, work far from home, and spend a lot of money on gas and car maintenance. And, of course, we all need to build up an emergency fund and put away money for retirement. Living wage calculations take all this into consideration.
Working at a job that allows us to be comfortable financially comes with many benefits. It allows us to feel valued as employees, encourages us to do our best work, and relieves the mental health issues that come with financial stress.
Small Businesses Leading the Way
When people think about increasing the minimum wage, their biggest concern is often how it will impact small businesses.
Surprisingly, though, Penich says it’s mainly small businesses in Calgary that have committed to paying a living wage.
“Almost half of minimum wage or low wage employees are working for companies that have over 100 employees. What we would love to see is something like a Walmart or a Loblaws step up to the plate. They have deep pockets, they’re huge companies. If we see local businesses in Calgary who are able to do this, why can’t Loblaws pay a living wage?”
More and more businesses in Alberta are committing to paying their employees a living wage. They can get certified with the Alberta Living Wage Network by having the network review staff wages. If the company does, in fact, pay a living wage, it is added to the Alberta Living Wage Network’s list.
Brewing Success With Fair Wages
The Establishment Brewing Company in Calgary is one business that has decided to set itself apart and show others what’s possible. The local Calgary brewery employs around 25 full-time and part-time staff, all paid at least a living wage.
Brandon Hart, co-founder of the brewery, says that the decision was as much in line with their values as it was with their desire to brew the best quality beer. “We believe that happy people make good beer, which is a convenient result in our line of business.”
Being a small business and paying a living wage can sometimes be challenging. The Establishment Brewing told TheRockies.Life in an interview that this decision comes with compromises in other areas. However, employee retention is one of the biggest benefits of paying employees a living wage. “We’ve had pretty good luck with retention in an industry that has a pretty poor record of retention,” they said.
If you look at which companies keep their employees the longest, the ones that pay their employees well win every time. The Establishment’s success is very likely due to more than just luck.
How to Lower Living Costs
The fact that the living wage keeps increasing yearly is not a given thing. Many actions can be taken to stabilize it or even bring it down.
With an increasing number of parents supporting children on minimum or low wages, it’s essential that the government develop policies to help low-wage earners.
“Good government policies can lower the living wage,” Penich says. “If we bring down the cost of housing, if we continue to do the great work that’s being done to lower the price of other basic needs, that’s what we need to move the needle.”
Rent control and building affordable housing would go a long way to keep Calgary’s living wage from increasing.
