Posted: Jun 01, 2019 (article written by Chad Pawson)
Summary: The minimum wage in B.C. is going up to $13.85 from $12.65. According to anti-poverty campaigners, it’s still woefully below what’s needed to afford a good life in the province. The living wage, which is what a working couple with two children needs to earn to pay for things like housing, child care, and transportation is calculated at $19.50 per hour for 2019 for Metro Vancouver by the Living Wage for Families Campaign. Halena Seiferling, who speaks for the campaign in B.C., says the gap amounts to tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue for families who need it. “There’s still a significant gap there,” she said of the difference between the minimum wage and the living wage. Saturday’s increase for the province’s lowest paid workers is part of the provincial government’s plan to raise the current wage to just over $15 an hour by 2021. The province says the plan will help to make life more affordable for people, while also allowing businesses to plan around how to afford the wage. Next June, the minimum wage will rise to $14.60 an hour before going up to $15.20 on June 1, 2021.
Stakeholders and how different organizations can be affected:
Workers: People who are working on minimum wage will be benefitted because now they are earning $1.20 more per hour.
Businesses: They will be facing a hard time because now they will be paying more to their workers.
Productivity: It will increase because now workers will be more pleased and as a result they will work more efficiently.
Unemployment: It will go up. Some workers may loose their jobs and also it will be hard for youth to get jobs because business can’t afford to hire new workers.
Spending: Workers are getting more money and as result they will be spending more on goods.
Personal Opinion: I think it will affect the businesses for a short period of time. It will also contribute to the GDP growth of the province because people will start spending more. I think the government should try to make it more equivalent to the living wage because that will reduce the poverty rates in the province.
Question: 1) Do you think that the government should raise the minimum wage and make it equivalent to the living wage?
2) If this happens, do you think it is fair for the businesses?
Economics 12 