Whitehorse's 'living wage' calculated at $19.12 an hour
Family of 4 would need household income of $74K
A Yukon advocacy group says a household of four people in Whitehorse needs an income of $74,000 per year to meet basic needs such as adequate housing and nutritious foods.
Kristina Craig with the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition says that means two adults each working 35 hours per week would need to earn $19.12 per hour to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, transportation, health care, and other basic necessities for themselves and two young children.
The current Yukon minimum wage is $11.07 per hour.
Higher wages are part of the solution, Craig says, but bringing the cost of living down for low income families would also be effective.
Craig says that could happen "by looking at health benefits, by looking at educational support, by looking at child-care support, looking at housing costs and how we can change that up."
Craig says the coalition will work with the public and private sectors to bring costs down.