The minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador will take a small jump Wednesday – but some say it's not rising fast enough for employees surviving on it.
EXTERNAL SITE: Minimum wage rates across Canada
Yvette Walton, director of the Single Parents Association of Newfoundland, says the 25-cent increase to $6.25 will not be enough to encourage people to enter the workforce and live independently.
Walton says social assistance recipients may only keep $150 of earned income per month beyond what they receive from government sources.
"It takes earnings of more than [$6.25] an hour for them to earn and to bring home more than they are receiving as income support from the government," Walton says.
FROM JAN. 6, 2005: Minimum wage to get $1 makeover
The provincial government announced in January it is phasing in a $1 increase over a two-year period.
The next increase will take effect Jan. 1, 2006.
The remaining increases will take effect June 1, 2006, and Jan. 1, 2007.
"The problem is that it's too little, too slowly," Walton says.
Walton says a more appropriate minimum wage is at least $7.50 per hour.
The minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador is the second-lowest in the country. By the end of the phased-in increases, however, it will be the highest in Atlantic Canada.
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