WINNIPEG: The Frontier Centre for Public Policy today released a study pointing out that a “living wage” policy in Calgary would help very few poor Calgarians, cement uncompetitive practices at City Hall, and draw attention away from more effective anti-poverty initiatives.
The Frontier study, Why A ‘Living Wage' Won't Kill Poverty, notes that attempts to create a new municipal living wage of $13.25 for Calgarywould have extremely limited benefits and substantial, though hidden, costs.
All full-time city employees already earn in excess of $13.25 per hour, thus the only staff members who would be affected by a living wage would be 680 casual and on-call staff such as youth leaders, babysitters and concession stand attendants in the recreation department. Even if the living wage was expanded to include contractors with the city, the average hourly wage in all service contract areas required by the city is currently above $13.25.
“Calgary's desire to create its own poverty reduction policy may be commendable, but a living wage is clearly not the best available tool to fight poverty,” said the study author, Peter Shawn Taylor. He notes that U.S. experience suggests even broader living wage policies are poorly targeted to those in need.
To read the rest of the media release, click here, or copy and paste [url=http://www.troymedia.com\media_releases\fcpp030209.htm]http://www.troymedia.com\media_releases\fcpp030209.htm[/url]
To download a copy of the report, click here or copy and pastehttp://www.troymedia.com\Reports\FCPP\Living-Wage.pdf.
For more information, contact the study author at:
Peter Shawn Taylor
Office: 519-884-7692 (Waterloo, Ontario)
Cell: 519-591-7692
petershawn.taylor@rogers.com
or
Gary Slywchuk
403-835-8192
gary.slywchuk@troymedia.com
