The Halifax and Antigonish Living Wages for 2016
This study uses the Canadian Living Wage Framework to update the living wage in Halifax (first calculated in June 2015), and provides a much-needed calculation of the living wage for Antigonish, a rural community in Nova Scotia. The study finds that two working parents with two children need to each earn a minimum of $19.17 an hour to make ends meet in Halifax, and $17.30 an hour in Antigonish.
The living wage is an important benchmark because it is evidence-based and locally-tested; and paying a living wage has been proven to increase productivity, decrease turnover, and allow workers to fully contribute, in the workplace and beyond. This is the first time a living wage calculation has been done for Antigonish, and it highlights the need to better understand the challenges of working for low incomes in a rural setting.
For those interested in calculating the living wage in other Nova Scotian communities, download the living wage calculation spreadsheets for Halifax and Antigonish below.
Attachments
Halifax Living Wage Calculation Spreadsheet 2016
Antigonish Living Wage Calculation Spreadsheet 2016
About the authors
Christine Johnson
Mary-Dan Johnston
Christine Saulnier
Christine Saulnier (she/her) is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia. She has a doctorate in Political Science from York University. She leads the living wage calculations for communities across Atlantic Canada and serves as a co-author of the annual child and family poverty report cards for Nova Scotia. She has written extensively, and given commentary on a range of other public policy issues including fiscal policy, labour markets, and child care policy. She serves on the Steering Committee of Child Care Now Nova Scotia, and Campaign 2000 (national coalition to end child and family poverty). She served on the Board of the NS Health Coalition and Adsum for 10 years.