The Test of Progress

 

The test of our progress

is not

whether we add more

to the abundance of those

who have much; 

it is

whether we provide enough

for those

who have too little.

― Franklin D. Roosevelt

Living Wage and Minimum Wage

I posted the above meme on our conference Facebook page. The first comment made on that post disagreed and asserted that, "Most minimum wage earners could live without any pay because they are living with parents. The lowest paid work is meant for workers with the least work experience and skills, i.e. teenagers."

This is is a very common and popular assumption about who makes up the minimum wage workforce. It is repeated so often that it is no longer even questioned by a majority of people. While it is true that a large proportion of the minimum wage workforce is made up of teenagers, it is by no means a majority, as can be seen in the Labour Statistics Research Paper published by Statistics Canada in September 2019 - Maximum insights on minimum wage workers: 20 years of data. As can be seen in the graph below, the trend is in the opposite direction, with more and more older workers joining that workforce.

The percentage of workers aged 15 to 24 years making up the minimum wage workforce was 60.7% in 1998, 63.6% in 2008, 52.3% in 2018. Even if teenagers made up as much as half of that cohort, that would still only be 32% in 2008 and declining to 26% in 2018 - not even close to "most...".

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey
See https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-004-m/75-004-m2019003-eng.htm

Ontario Workers Need Paid Sick Leave

 

PAID SICK LEAVE FOR ONTARIO WORKERS.

Medical experts, labour activists and scientists all agree that the fact most workers do not have easy access to paid sick leave is a major contributor to the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario workplaces.

Sign this petition demanding paid sick leave for workers.

Paid Sick Days Ontario

Reprinted from the Advocacy Newsletter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

 

Universal Basic Income Works

 

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME WORKS!! 

A recent study highlights how the Canada Child Benefit, as a form of universal basic income has stimulated the economy and lifted people out of poverty. Likewise, the Old Age Supplement has done the same for seniors. 

You can personalize this letter at the link below telling your elected representative that no further evidence is required. A Universal Basic Income for children and seniors has proven its worth and should be implemented for all Canadians now!

Universal Basic Income

This post is reproduced from the Advocacy Newsletter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.