Labradorians need to earn $26.80 per hour just to make ends meet, new wage report says

A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says Newfoundlanders and Labradorians need to make between $9 and $11 more per hour just to make ends meet while living in the province. 

The report outlines what a living wage in Newfoundland and Labrador would look like by taking an average household, figuring out the minimum expenses for a year — like living space and food — and then working backward to see what people would need to earn per hour to reach that amount.

According to report author Russell Williams, the living wage in eastern Newfoundland is $24.20, while the wage on the Northern Peninsula and Labrador is $26.80. The province's minimum wage is $15 an hour.

"We often think of the cost of living as being far higher in big cities in Canada, places like Toronto and Vancouver, but the costs are really high in some rural parts of this province,"  Williams told CBC News on Tuesday.

"The living wage in the Labrador-Northern Peninsula region, what people need just to make ends meet, is one of the highest rates in the country. And it confirms something, really, that we already know, right? That food and transportation costs in the north mean that people need to earn more."

The living wage doesn't account for things like saving for retirement or budgeting to pay down debt, which Williams said made the focus groups he spoke to for the report feel that even the living wage wouldn't be enough to live on.

"It's really, really eye-opening to see what basic expenses people actually have to just maintain sort of a basic quality of life in the province at the moment," he said. 

"People are starting to realize there's a better life for them elsewhere. And that is one of the takeaways here."

The report recommends the province extend leave benefits for low-wage workers, strengthen pay equity, raise the minimum wage and reduce the bottom tax rate on earnings and redistribute the burden to the highest tax bracket.

CBC News has asked Premier Andrew Furey for comment.

In a statement, and speaking on behalf of the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development, media relations manager Khadija Rehma said the province needs time to review the report and wants insight into how the living wage was calculated.

The statement also noted actions government has taken to help people with the cost of living — pointing to $10-a-day child care and an increase to the province's child benefit.

NDP MHA Lela Evans said the government isn't doing enough to help people in Labrador. The reason rural areas are disproportionately affected by inflation needs to be explored, she said.

"It's not just about a wage, a living wage. One of the things I would really like to see is some work put into why [there are] different regions where the food insecurity is higher. Why the cost of living is higher," said Evans, who represents Torngat Mountains.

"I think if they could solve some of those problems, what would happen is people would actually have quality of life no matter where you live in the province."

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