LOWER MAINLAND (NEWS1130) – Raising a family in Metro Vancouver will cost you even more this year.

“According to our calculations, the living wage is $20.10/hr. So, if they were working minimum wage, both parents would have to work two jobs,” says Michael McCarthy Flynn with the Living Wage for Families Campaign.

He adds that only covers the basic expenses, including rent, child-care, food and transportation. “It doesn’t include items like buying a house, paying off debt, saving for retirement, [or] saving for children’s education. It’s just basic, adequate living expenses.”

The group has been doing these reports since 2008.

“[The living wage] has gone up by 48 cents since last year, which is a little higher than the rate of inflation; it’s gone up by 2.4 per cent,” says McCarthy Flynn.

“The reason it’s higher than the rate of inflation… is calculated on a much wider basket of goods and a number of those aren’t essentials, like TVs and things like that. What we’re finding is the essential basket of goods — what families need to have to look after themselves — that is rising quicker than a broader range of consumer goods.”

McCarthy Flynn argues things are so expensive because of a failure of public policy. “Some of the items that we see can be alleviated if we had more public policies that would reduce costs. For example, more affordable child care, more affordable housing, more affordable transit, etc.”

“Also, employers can look at what they can do to pay the living wage. For example, our tax dollars shouldn’t be going to poverty wages. Large institutions like banks [and] multi-national companies, they are more than able to afford this without significantly impacting their bottom line,” he adds.

“In terms of businesses who may struggle to do this… we can look collectively to our government to alleviate that by looking at how the tax system can support businesses who pay people a living wage.”

The living wage in the Fraser Valley is just over $17/hr.

BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada, and has ranked the worst in the country for nine out of the last ten years.