Download a copy of the podcast transcript. Podcast written and recorded by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer. NOTE: This plain language podcast indicates that 131 employees completed the survey; however, 147 employees actually successfully completed it.

This article was produced with the support of CFICE’s Poverty Reduction Hub, in partnership with the and the . It was first published online in the  on March 2, 2016. Access a copy of the article in Action Research by clicking on the image below (subscription to Wiley Online Library may be required).

by Amy Richardson, CFICE Communications RA

The Community First: Impacts of Community (CFICE) project works closely with it’s community partners to deliver a community first approach. One of those partners is , an organization committed to reducing and preventing poverty in the Windsor/Essex community of Ontario and a community partner of CFICE’s .

Adam Vasey is the Director at Pathway to Potential. ŠPathway to Potential

Adam Vasey, the Director of Pathway to Potential, says the organization looks at the big picture when working to end and prevent poverty.

“Our work has really been focused at changing policies, changing attitudes and really taking a systemic approach to the issue of poverty,” Vasey says.

As a community partner of CFICE, Vasey says Pathway to Potential has see huge value in the partnership.

“Our involvement with CFICE is interesting – it could have been a one-off on a specific project,” he says. “We were really intentional at a grassroots level and thought: ‘Let’s look at building a model that might be sustainable after the CFICE grant.’”

Vasey says Pathway to Potential already had ties with some departments at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, like the Department of Social Work, and saw the CFICE project as a natural fit.

Pathway to Potential wanted to bring everyone together to “develop a truly shared model that wasn’t owned just by the university or just by the community, but rather is mutually beneficial,” Vasey says.

Pathway to Potential has four main pillars: employment and training, literacy and lifelong learning, income security and equality, and food security. Each pillar has it’s own projects, but Vasey said one of the highlights currently is their Living Wage Campaign under the income security and equality pillar.

The logo an employer can display in the Windsor/Essex community if they pay a living wage.

The launched in March 2015 in partnership with the Windsor/Essex Chamber of Commerce. The goal is for employers in the community to pay their employees a living wage.

So far, Vasey says, 28 employers have signed up for the program.

“We need to have a critical mass of living wage employers in our community who can start to put pressure on other employers and tell the story about the benefits of the living wage. That way we start to have a culture of employers who recognize that it’s an investment in our local economy.”

With the rate of inflation and the struggles of today’s society, a minimum wage just isn’t enough, especially for someone trying to get out of poverty.

“There is an assumption for some people that work is always a pathway out of poverty and people are increasingly recognizing that minimum wage, in a lot of communities, is not enough for people to meet all of their basic needs,” Vasey says.

Paying a living wage benefits both the employer and the employee.

“To me, a living wage is one of the biggest areas of impact an employer can have because it’s making that commitment saying we’re investing in you as an employee and we’re committed to ensuring that you will meet your basic needs and not have to use a food bank.”

The employee sees benefits of social inclusion, and enhanced community participation and health, Vasey says, while the employer sees a boost in morale by having happier, more loyal employees with less turnover.

One of the ways they were able to get so many employers on board with the project is because they are well known in the community. They are the go-to for questions about poverty or evidence of poverty for the media and community members.

They’ve worked hard to change the perception that changes to poverty can only happen from a top-down level.

“I think the role of Pathway to Potential is to ensure a community-driven approach and ensure we have the capacity and relationships at the local level to do the work,” Vasey says.

“If you don’t have those, the higher level policy changes aren’t necessarily going to make a difference in the community.”

Story in Brief

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. CFICE’s Poverty Hub funded a study in Hamilton on the experiences of living wage employers and employees and found that implementing a living wage leads to a more engaged, more committed, and happier workforce.

by Julie Bourassa, CFICE Volunteer

It’s hard to make a living. Especially when minimum wage does not guarantee a decent quality of life.

It is for this reason that the – along with many poverty-focused community groups – are advocating for a living wage.

“People 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,” explains Zhaocheng Zeng, a PhD candidate at McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business. “Unlike the minimum wage, a living wage can serve this purpose.”

For families supported by a minimum wage income, quality of life could be significantly improved by a living wage.

Zeng recalls the testimony of a single mother of two: “She was a minimum wage worker, and she described her life as ‘not able to afford anything besides basic food.’”

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.

“With a living wage practice, the quality of their lives can be improved because the living wage takes not only workers’ surviving needs, but also their social needs into consideration,” says Zeng.

However, there is often a significant gap between the minimum and living wage. For example, Ontario’s current minimum wage is $11.25, while the average living wage in Hamilton is $14.95.

“The living wage in Hamilton is calculated based on what it costs to live in this city,” explains Zeng.

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.

Choosing to Pay a Living Wage

Unfortunately, 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.

As part of its partnership with the – and, by extension, the – funded a study that looked into the experiences of living wage employers and employees.

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

“Employers will have a more engaged, more committed, and happier workforce,” observes Zeng.  “At 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.”

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.

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 highlights the need to continue working toward a living wage for a higher quality of living for our families, and our communities.

]]> /communityfirst/2014/calculating-the-living-wage-webinar-for-local-communities/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=calculating-the-living-wage-webinar-for-local-communities Fri, 22 Aug 2014 19:18:26 +0000 http://cfice.wordpress.com/?p=767

Save the date!

The Living Wage for Families Campaign has received more than three dozen requests from communities around BC (and across western Canada) asking how the local living wage can be calculated. To help the living wage movement grow, you are invited to join us for a free one-hour webinar on how the Living Wage for Families calculates the annual living wage, and to learn how you can adopt this methodology to use in your own community.

Join us Tuesday, September 9th, from 12 PM to 1 PM PDT.

• Iglika Ivanova of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC Office) will walk through the data required to develop a local table of family expenses and show how to use the living wage calculation spreadsheet to calculate the living wage in your community; Iglika does the annual calculation for the Metro Vancouver living wage.
• Adrienne Montani of First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition and Catherine Ludgate of the Living Wage for Families Campaign (employer recognition) will provide a history of the Campaign and some suggestions for how to find a local host to make the annual calculations; First Call is the host for the Living Wage for Families Campaign.

We’ll send information on how to connect to the webinar closer to the dates.

If you have any questions, please contact Catherine Ludgate at info@livingwageforfamilies.ca.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014 – 12:00pm to 1:00pm PDT

Source: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/offices/bc/events/calculating-living-wage-webinar-local-communities#sthash.XxPTjerj.dpuf

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