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YAPC: Living Wage Rises to $18.57 in Whitehorse

Friday, 28 September 2018 16:44

The official logo (Photo courtesy of Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition)

The report was conducted on behalf of the Yukon-Anti Poverty Coalition.

The Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition has released their "Living Wage in Whitehorse, Yukon 2018" and there has been a sharp increase in the living wage in comparison to last year.

The living wage jumped from $18.26 in 2017 to $18.57 this year in the Territory, with the coalition citing shelter and child care as the main reasons for the increase.

Kendall Hammond, a researcher for the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, noted more annual factors that are also taken into consideration in the report.

"The living wage calculation takes into consideration the cost of basic household goods, housing, transportation, clothing...the tax and transfer system,the amount of income tax you pay, the Canada Pension Plan premium, employment insurance, and the amount of government transfers that you receive."

This is the third year that the report has been done and the study uses a spreadsheet with local data sources to update annually.

Charlotte Hrenchuk, Co-chair of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, also commented on the report, suggesting the governments have tangible tools to address the gap between the living wage and the minimum wage, which should be increased.

Low income transit passes and development of rent geared to income housing were other suggestions provided by Hrenchuk to address the high costs of living in the Territory.

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