N.B. family of four needs $24 hourly wage: advocacy group

A family with two working parents and two young children would need an hourly wage of more than $24 to cover basic needs and live in dignity in New Brunswick, according to a new report.

The Human Development Council – a Saint John-based social issues advocacy group – says the living wage in the province for a family of four is $24.62. A living wage is the hourly rate a family would need to earn to support childhood development, avoid financial stress, and participate in the community.

“Many families in the province earn less than a living wage and struggle to make ends meet,” said Randy Hatfield, executive director of the Human Development Council, in a news release. “While we are not advocating for the living wage to become the minimum wage, the data supports the need for an increase. Furthermore, the living wage framework underscores the role of effective public policies in making life more affordable for families.”

The current minimum wage in New Brunswick is $15.30, which is the second-lowest in Atlantic Canada. It increased from $14.75 last April.

The report from the Human Development Council says it calculated the living wage in accordance with the Canadian Living Wage Framework, which defines the wage as a household’s hourly rate at which it can meet its basic needs after government transfers are added to the income.

The report found shelter, food, and child care make up the three biggest expenses for families in New Brunswick.

“The living wage methodology has its limitations,” the report reads. “It does not reflect the reality of people who do not work full-time. Furthermore, it uses a specific reference family with working parents and two young children.

“This living wage is likely not high enough to meet the financial needs of different family types, like couples with more than two children, families with younger children requiring more intensive and expensive child care, or families with a single income earner and multiple children.”

The report broke down the living wage for the three biggest cities in New Brunswick:

• Fredericton: $25.88 (up $1.38 from 2023)
• Moncton: $24.07 (up $1.32 from 2023)
• Saint John: $24.07 (up $0.72 from 2023)

“New Brunswick does not have a dominant urban area,” the release notes. “Therefore, data availability is sparse, especially for geographies outside of Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton. There is sufficient data to calculate living wages for the three cities but in other less populated areas of the province, that is not the case.”

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