The Sunshine Coast’s living wage has risen nearly a dollar in the past year.
The hourly rate two parents working full-time need to earn to support a family of four has risen to $26.42 per hour in 2024, up from $25.61 last year –– a 3.16 per cent rise.
The calculation from Sunshine Coast Foundation, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC Office), and Living Wage BC dropped Wednesday and the lower Sunshine Coast continues to descend in the rankings.
Two years ago, the Coast had among the most expensive costs of living, having experienced an astronomical 22.8 per cent rise in the living wage calculation between 2021 and 2022. The Coast had the third highest cost of living in B.C. that year, among participating communities. (The 2021 calculation was $19.79 per hour and the 2022 calculation was $24.30 per hour.) Last year, the Coast had the fifth highest cost of living.
This year, the Coast has the ninth highest cost of living in the province, among participating communities, positioned between Powell River ($26.49 per hour) and Salt Spring Island ($26.25 per hour).
As in past years, shelter is the highest essential expense for the Coast calculated at $2,826 a month for living wage families (up 3.7 per cent over last year). The most dramatic change, however, was in transportation costs, which rose 7.6 per cent, adding $41 per month as ferry costs were considered in the calculation for the first time.
“Despite a reduction from historic inflation levels, the cost of living in BC is still rising swiftly,” said Sunshine Coast Foundation executive director Erin Storey in a press release. “It's clear that daily life on the Sunshine Coast is becoming more costly, with an increasing number of families relying on local charities for essential needs and these organizations are finding it challenging to keep up with the growing demand for their services.”
Financial relief from governments has been outpaced by rising cost of essentials, said the release.
“Rent has been the most expensive item in the living wage family budget since the calculation was first produced, and this year is no exception,” said Iglika Ivanova, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office senior economist and the report's lead author in the release.
The release also noted that the living wage is different than the minimum wage, which is $17.40 per hour in B.C. –– $9 less than the local living wage. On the Sunshine Coast, there are 13 certified living wage employers committed to paying direct and contract employees the living wage.
“The Sunshine Coast’s living wage calculation is based on the needs of two-parent families with young children, but it is also meant to support all workers so that young adults are not discouraged from having children because of low wages and older workers have extra income as they age,” said the release.
“The living wage affords a decent, but modest, standard of living without the extras many take for granted,” said the release. The calculation takes into account housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, phone and internet, clothing, education and contingency. It does not take into account debt payments, retirement savings, education savings, home ownership, caring for an ill or injured family member or an emergency cushion.
This year, Whistler took the crown for highest living wage at $28.09 per hour, followed by last year’s list-topper Clayoquot Sound ($27.42 per hour) and Metro Vancouver ($27.05 per hour).
