{"id":1762,"date":"2015-11-26T09:43:01","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T09:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/?p=1762"},"modified":"2016-01-15T13:36:41","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T18:36:41","slug":"who-pays-a-living-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Pays a Living Wage?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Story in Brief<\/a><\/dt>

<\/p>\n

Minimum wage doesn’t guarantee a decent quality of life. With a living wage, a person gains the ability to participate in a minimum level of social activities.\u00a0CFICE’s\u00a0Poverty Hub funded a study in Hamilton on\u00a0the experiences of living wage employers and employees and found that implementing a living wage leads to\u00a0a more engaged, more committed, and happier workforce.<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/dd>

<\/div>\n

by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life.<\/p>\n

It is for this reason that the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction<\/a> \u2013 along with many poverty-focused community groups \u2013 are advocating for a living wage.<\/p>\n

\"building-804526_1920\"<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have both physical needs, like food, and social needs, like civic engagement. Poverty reduction is not just about providing enough food, but also about providing people with chances to engage in a minimum level of social activities,\u201d explains Zhaocheng Zeng, a PhD candidate at McMaster\u2019s DeGroote School of Business. \u201cUnlike the minimum wage, a living wage can serve this purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

For families supported by a minimum wage income, quality of life could be significantly improved by a living wage.<\/p>\n

Zeng recalls the testimony of a single mother of two: \u201cShe was a minimum wage worker, and she described her life as \u2018not able to afford anything besides basic food.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For this woman, a living wage would mean being able to take her children to the dentist, to have a friend over for supper, or to take her family on small outings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a living wage practice, the quality of their lives can be improved because the living wage takes not only workers\u2019 surviving needs, but also their social needs into consideration,\u201d says Zeng.<\/p>\n

However, there is often a significant gap between the minimum and living wage. For example, Ontario\u2019s current minimum wage is $11.25, while the average living wage in Hamilton is $14.95.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe living wage in Hamilton is calculated based on what it costs to live in this city,\u201d explains Zeng.<\/p>\n

Calculation of the cost of living is based on a number of local factors, including: available tax benefits, child care, transportation costs, utility costs, school fees, and basic needs.<\/p>\n

Choosing to Pay a Living Wage<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AUnfortunately, living wages are not yet mandated by law. It falls on employers to choose a living wage for their employees. While at first it may seem like just an additional cost to the employer, living wages promote many benefits for both the employer and the employee.<\/p>\n

As part of its partnership with the Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement<\/a> \u2013 and, by extension, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction<\/a> – CFICE\u2019s Poverty Hub<\/a> funded a study that looked into the experiences of living wage employers and employees.<\/p>\n

Zeng, who co-authored the study, spoke with local employers and noted the positive results of paying their full-time employees a living wage.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers will have a more engaged, more committed, and happier workforce,\u201d observes Zeng. \u00a0\u201cAt the same time, employers can develop a good reputation in the community, because paying a living wage shows their care and concern for their own employees. All of this is important for long-term business development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study also conducted a survey to explore the experiences of minimum and living wage employees. The results of this survey demonstrate that living wage employees have a lower turnover rate, and are more engaged in the overall culture of their organizations.<\/p>\n

While the study addresses the obstacles that come with implementing a living wage, it also dispels the often-held notion that a living wage only costs the employers. Most importantly, it\u00a0highlights the need to\u00a0continue working toward a living wage for a higher quality of living for our families, and our communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer It\u2019s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life. It is for this reason that the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction \u2013 along with many poverty-focused community groups \u2013 are advocating for a living wage. \u201cPeople have both physical needs, like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,29],"tags":[397,261,417,418],"yoast_head":"\nWho Pays a Living Wage? - Community First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer It\u2019s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life. It is for this\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jay Gatsby\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/\",\"name\":\"Who Pays a Living Wage? - Community First\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-26T09:43:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-15T18:36:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#\/schema\/person\/5bd7e48379ea8c947764e1fe960eaab9\"},\"description\":\"by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer It\u2019s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life. It is for this\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/category\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Who Pays a Living Wage?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/\",\"name\":\"Community First\",\"description\":\"Carleton University\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#\/schema\/person\/5bd7e48379ea8c947764e1fe960eaab9\",\"name\":\"Jay Gatsby\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5cb5c39a9c72e04a9b6c44867476ecb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5cb5c39a9c72e04a9b6c44867476ecb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jay Gatsby\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who Pays a Living Wage? - Community First","description":"by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer It\u2019s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life. It is for this","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jay Gatsby","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/","name":"Who Pays a Living Wage? - Community First","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-26T09:43:01+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-15T18:36:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#\/schema\/person\/5bd7e48379ea8c947764e1fe960eaab9"},"description":"by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer It\u2019s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life. It is for this","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2015\/who-pays-a-living-wage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/category\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Who Pays a Living Wage?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#website","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/","name":"Community First","description":"Carleton University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#\/schema\/person\/5bd7e48379ea8c947764e1fe960eaab9","name":"Jay Gatsby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5cb5c39a9c72e04a9b6c44867476ecb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5cb5c39a9c72e04a9b6c44867476ecb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jay Gatsby"}}]}},"acf":{"Post Thumbnail":{"ID":1763,"id":1763,"title":"shield-1020318_1920","filename":"shield-1020318_1920.jpg","filesize":855633,"url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/shield-1020318_1920\/","alt":"Image depicts an orange and brown sign on a building that reads: Come in. We're hiring!","author":"24","description":"","caption":"","name":"shield-1020318_1920","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2015-11-26 14:17:11","modified":"2015-11-26 14:17:49","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1271,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","thumbnail-width":160,"thumbnail-height":106,"medium":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":159,"medium_large":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920-768x508.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","large-width":400,"large-height":265,"gallery-thumb":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","gallery-thumb-width":300,"gallery-thumb-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1017,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1271,"banner":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920-1600x700.jpg","banner-width":1600,"banner-height":700,"people":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920-200x200.jpg","people-width":200,"people-height":200,"post-thumb":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920-300x230.jpg","post-thumb-width":300,"post-thumb-height":230,"rotator-image":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920.jpg","rotator-image-width":800,"rotator-image-height":530,"video-thumb":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-content\/uploads\/shield-1020318_1920-360x238.jpg","video-thumb-width":360,"video-thumb-height":238}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2901,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions\/2901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}