T
he minimum wage is inching up a smidge in Saskatchewan.
A smidge is about the best word for what is only a two per cent hike, from $ 10.72 to $10.96 when it takes affect this October.
Let鈥檚 not forget this increase is not going to do much in terms of keeping those earning minimum wage from losing ground when you measure the increase against a one per cent increase in the provincial sales tax in the most recent Saskatchewan budget, and the PST is now applied on a wider range of goods and services too.
And let鈥檚 not forget the 16.3 per cent increase in municipal property taxes and hikes in the school portion of property taxes.
While it might be argued few minimum wage earners own property, they are still hit as rents are going to go up as rental property owners seek to recoup the tax increases.
Then there are water rates, which in Yorkton went up 3.15 per cent on Jan. 1.
The list goes on in terms of cost increases which as consumers we have little choice but to pay, and that means tightening budgets. The process of tightening a budget is hardest on those with the lowest of incomes simply because there is not much wiggle room.
Among wage earners those on minimum wage are going to find even modest increases difficult to handle, and in a year when a number of taxes jumped significantly, a two per cent increase in that wage nine months into the year will do nothing to alleviate the problem.
Now Statistics Canada numbers from early July show Saskatchewan struggling in terms of new job creation, ninth among Canadian provinces with a net job loss of 1,700, so even the modest minimum wage increase will be seen as a drag on any recovery.
Hendrik Brakel, the Senior Director for Economic, Financial, and Tax Policy with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, recently published a report highlighting the risks for businesses in sustaining a higher minimum wage.
Brakel鈥檚 report, which was distributed through the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce, points out that many businesses which employ minimum wage workers cannot absorb the costs of higher pay without severely cutting into their profit margins. They鈥檙e left with two options.
They can raise prices, which can scare customers away, or they reduce their workers鈥� payable hours.
鈥淐asual workers get less hours because it鈥檚 easy to cut them,鈥� said Brakel in a Yorkton This Week story Aug. 2.
Brakel pointed to Seattle as a prime example. Seattle saw wages go up by three per cent but hours went down by nine per cent, leaving employees worse off.
But as a society we need to tread lightly when assessing the impact of a minimum wage increase.
It should be remembered recent Statistics Canada numbers also showed more serious crime in Yorkton is up for the second straight year.
The recently released the crime severity index (CSI) statistics for 2016, and it saw Yorkton increase by 10 per cent, going from 135.14 to 149.47.
The majority of that increase was due to a jump in violent crime, which increased 34.70 per cent, going from 143.35 to 193.09. Non-violent crime remained steady, with a one per cent increase, from 131.88 to 133.28.
Local RCMP detachment Staff Sgt Jeff Simpson noted in a Yorkton This Week article, 鈥渨hen people find themselves in positions where there is maybe a loss of jobs or something like that, mixed with substance abuse, addictions problems or whatever the case is, typically the crime rate sees a positive increase. Property crime, even persons crime as relationships get strained.鈥�
It was suggested in this very space last issue that the underlying message there is that people with good jobs which allow for stable living conditions for families are critical if crime rates are to be reduced.
Creating that stable life environment starts by helping those most at risk, including the working poor. While no one should think two per cent solves anything, it is at least a small step in creating a stronger foundation for workers.
