Category: ESPC Press Releases

ESPC releases updated publication tracking latest social and economic trends

The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) today released the 2018 edition of its flagship publication Tracking the Trends. The 131-page publication provides a detailed analysis of social and economic trends in Edmonton. Information is provided about population demographics, education and employment, living costs & housing, income & wealth, poverty & government transfers, and key indicators of Edmonton’s social health.

Planning Strategically for the Future:

“Edmonton is the youngest major city in Canada and the only one that has become younger in the past ten years,” noted John Kolkman, the report’s lead author. “Not only does this mean that we need to build more seniors housing, but booming enrolments means Edmonton also has to build many new schools.”

• Bucking national trends, in the most recent ten year period, Edmonton has become slightly younger as the median age fell from 36.1 to 35.7 years (p.5);

Increased Diversity

“A key message in this year’s Tracking the Trends is that – despite a difficult economy caused by struggling oil and natural gas prices – Edmonton is still attracting thousands of newcomers from around the world who are eager to make a contribution in their new home. At quite a rapid rate, Edmonton is becoming increasingly diverse racially and culturally,” said Kolkman.

• The number of immigrants and refugees permanently settling in metro Edmonton increased by 270% between 2000 and 2017 (p. 7);
• Reflecting this increased diversity, the number of non-Indigenous Edmontonians who are visible minorities (non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour) more than tripled from 110,160 in 1996 (18.1% of Edmontonians) to 339,040 in 2016 (37.1% of Edmontonians) (p. 9); and
• The number of Indigenous people living in the city (50,280) and region (76,205) has grown at about double the rate of the overall population in the past twenty years (p. 6).
   

Better Educated

“A consistently positive trend is the continuing improvement in educational attainment both in terms of high school graduation and post-secondary completion,” said Kolkman. “This trend is particularly impressive considering the extra challenges posed by the rapid growth in the number of English Language Learners in our schools,” he added.

• • For the past 15 years in which data is available, the three-year high school completion rate for the Edmonton Public School District improved by 18.4% from 57.0% in the 2000/01 school year to 75.4% in 2015/16.
• • In the Edmonton Catholic School District, the three-year completion rate improved by 24.8% from 59.7% in 2000/01 to 84.5% in the 2015/16 year.
   

Economic Picture Not Great

Kolkman noted that the economic picture in Edmonton is more negative with many of the employment and income support trends getting worse or at best stuck in neutral for the past several years:

• • Despite modest improvement toward the end of the year, the unemployment rate averaged 8.1% in 2017, a twenty-year high (p. 38).
• • Vulnerable groups are being particularly hard hit with the unemployment rate for Indigenous people averaging 13.4% in 2017 and youth unemployment averaging 14.9%. (p. 50, 51);
• • The number of people receiving Employment Insurance regular benefits peaked at a twenty year high of 27,388 in 2016, and declined only slightly to 24,894 in 2017 (p. 98);
• • The number of Edmonton households relying on Alberta Works (income support) benefits hit 27,439 in 2017, also a twenty-year high (p. 98).

Income Inequality Significant

While median after-tax incomes are up overall, much of this increase has gone to the highest income earners:

• Between 1982 and 2015, the top 1% of Edmonton taxfilers have seen their after-tax incomes go up by 69.7%, after accounting for inflation, compared to only a 3.2% increase for the bottom 50% of taxfilers (p. 72);
• There continues to be a significant income gap based on gender. In 2015, female taxfilers median after-tax was $30,580, or 63.7% of the $47,990 in after-tax income for male taxfilers (p. 75).
• Employment earnings provide the main source of income for all family types including 72.2% of the total income for lone-parent families in 2015 (p. 77).
• Despite recent increases in Alberta’s minimum wage, over one in five (21.5%) Edmonton workers earned below the $16.31 living wage (p. 79).
   

Poverty Trends

Tracking the Trends 2018 includes the most recently available poverty and low wage trends:

• 135,240 people in metro Edmonton lived in poverty in 2015, 10.5% of the population (p. 87).
• The younger a person is, the greater the likelihood they will be living in poverty. 41,580 of those living in poverty were children and youth under 18, or 15.2% of all children and youth (p. 88);
• Government income transfers, especially refundable child benefits, are a crucial tool in lifting children and youth out of poverty. In the absence of these transfers, child poverty would have been 27.3% higher in 2015. The poverty reduction impacts of new and enhanced federal and provincial child benefits – introduced in mid-year 2016 –should lift even more children out of poverty (p. 97).

Edmontonians Still Struggling to get Enough Food

• Edmonton’s Food Bank served 23,181 individuals through its hamper program in March 2017, the fourth consecutive year usage was up (p. 65).

“Timely, accurate information is critical to informed decision-making,” said Kolkman. Tracking the Trends 2018 is a one-stop resource for identifying and analyzing a broad range of social and economic trends impacting those with low and modest incomes in our community,” he concluded.

For more information contact:
John Kolkman, Research Associate
(780) 423-2031 x350 or (587) 989-4442
 

Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal

June 1, 2016

(This column was adapted from speech I gave last month to the Edmonton Social Planning Council. My thanks to them for the inspiration, and the video.)

And so we begin to say a gradual goodbye to our visitors from Fort McMurray.

As evacuees slowly return to their city and dig into the long, slow messy work of rebuilding, we in Edmonton may feel a legitimate pride.

In a crisis, our community reacted with breathtaking speed and generosity to provide for almost 90,000 displaced people. It was a tribute to the people and institutions of Edmonton, and especially to our not-for-profit sector, as social agencies, large and small, jumped in to action. It was a tribute, too, to the thousands of people who donated their time, their money, their goods, their homes, to the victims of the fire.

We pulled together with incredible spirit, mad creativity, and commendable organizational skill.

The state of emergency brought out the best in us.

 

Click here to read the whole article. 

For Immediate Release

New Report Highlights the Path Forward to Ending Child Poverty

The Edmonton Social Planning Council, the Alberta College of Social Workers, and Public Interest Alberta released a new report, “The Path Forward: Opportunities to End Child Poverty in Alberta” on the eve of the Alberta government’s 2016 budget.  

“Along with other Albertans, we await details of the government’s budgetary plans,” said John Kolkman, Research Coordinator for the Edmonton Social Planning Council.  He noted that in terms of and poverty reduction, a number of key initiatives were announced in the October 2015 budget and are already being implemented.  The most substantial of these is a new $195 million investment in an Alberta Child Benefit (ACB) beginning on July 1, 2016.

The new ACB will directly add $1,100 per child to the annual incomes of Alberta’s poorest families, with an additional $550 per year for each of the next three children.  “Anti-poverty groups have urged the province to adopt such a benefit for years. This is going to make a big difference to Alberta’s child poverty reduction efforts,” said Kolkman.

235,000 Alberta children are eligible for the new ACB.  144,850 children in Alberta lived below the poverty line in 2013 (the most recent year data is available).  This means the ACB and an enhanced Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit will also help children in working families with incomes just above the poverty line.

The federal government is also introducing a new Canada Child Benefit with enhanced benefits for low and middle income families.  Combined, these complementary provincial and federal benefits could lift about a third of Alberta’s children out of poverty.  They are also a good starting point toward a basic income for families with children, Kolkman noted.

The report shows that Alberta’s income inequality has increased faster than the national average, with the top 1% of earners seeing real income gains of 72.1% since 1982 while the bottom half of income earners only saw a small gain of 10.4%.

Over 362,000 Albertans work for wages less than $15 per hour, of which 59.9% are 25 years and older.  Moreover, 64.5% of those making less than $15 per hour are women, and women still only make around 60% on average of what a man earns.  “Raising Alberta’s minimum hourly wage to $15 per hour by 2018 is key to helping end poverty among those in the paid workforce,” emphasized Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta.

French also noted that even with the revenue adjustments to income taxes, Alberta continues to generate the lowest amount of tax revenue of any Canadian province. “As of October 2015, if Alberta had the same tax system as the next lowest province, the Alberta government would generate an additional $8.5 billion in tax revenue. If the government does not address its massive revenue shortage in the near future, its ability to implement new measures to tackle child poverty will be severely limited.”

“Despite the economic downturn, for the sake of our children and economic future, Alberta must keep investing in priorities like early learning and child care, affordable housing, and mental health,” French concluded.

For more information please contact:

John Kolkman, Research Coordinator, Edmonton Social Planning Council
(587) 989-4442
johnk@edmontonsocialplanning.ca

Joel French, Executive Director, Public Interest Alberta
(780) 893-9379
communications@pialberta.org

For Immediate Release

(Edmonton) The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) estimates that two working adults, caring for two children, would need to each earn $17.36 per hour to meet the family’s basic needs.

The living wage is calculated using a detailed financial accounting based on the actual local costs of food, rent, utilities, clothing, child care, transportation, communications and more. The calculation is based on the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ 
(CCPA) Living Wage Canada frame work that other cities have used. 

“This living wage comes at a time when our provincial government is raising the minimum wage. Our calculation gives all levels of government and employers a comprehensive picture of what it costs to live in this city,” said ESPC executive director Susan Morrissey. “Not only does it serve as a way to compare Edmonton’s cost of living with other cities, but the living wage is also an effective tool in reducing poverty.” 

The calculation places Edmonton slightly above Calgary’s living wage of $17.29 calculated in 2014, Red Deer’s $16.48 calculated in 2013 and Grande Prairie’s $15.55 calculated in 2012. 

“The issues surrounding poverty are incredibly complex.  We need the right tools for planning and the right strategies in place to address these issues,” said Allan Undheim, Vice-President of Community Building and Investment for United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. “This is why the living wage calculation is such an important tool as government, business and the not-for-profit sector work together on plans to help people gain valuable skills and take advantage of opportunities that will see them reach their earning potential and better provide for themselves and their families.” 

Employer Usman Tahir Jutt says he is generally supportive of the living wage calculation. 

“Understanding our city and its people is a fundamental step to addressing the challenges we face,” said Jutt, an owner of two restaurants. “Data like this gives insight into the fabric of our society. This first step will open the doors to further dialogue and research into how we can get closer to creating a city future generations will be proud to call home.” 

ESPC is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan social research organization, with registered charitable status with a focus on social research, particularly in the areas of low income and poverty.

For more information: 
Susan Morrissey 
ESPC Executive Director 
(780) 218-7395 cell
susanm@edmontonsocialplanning.ca

Information about living wages nationally is available at: www.livingwagecanada.ca

Edmonton’s living wage report is available at: More Than Minimum – Calculating Edmonton’s Living Wage

Backgrounder

Edmonton’s Living Wage of $17.36 is calculated using the typical expenses of a family of four living in a three-bedroom rental apartment, with two adults working 35 hours each a week, with one adult enrolled in school part-time, with two children, aged three and seven. The calculation is based on this equation:

Annual Family Expenses = Employment Income + Income from Government Transfers – Taxes

Major Family Monthly Expenses

• Food – $884.17
• Clothing and Footwear – $164.04
• Shelter – $1,416
• Transportation – $460.47
• Utilities – $218.96
• Bank Fees – $24.50
• Communications (cable, cell-phone) – $148
• Child Care – $1,406.33
• Extended Health/Dental – $260
• Child school fees – $20
• Parent’s continuing education – $143.04
• Household furnishings, misc – $441.04
• Contingency fund – $101.27

Total – $5,687.94

Non-Wage Monthly Income (Government Transfers)

• Canada Child Tax Benefit – $196.44
• Universal Child Care Benefit – $220
• Child Care Subsidy – $634
• Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit – $57.02

Total – $1,107.46

Monthly Household Income Less Government Deductions plus Gov. Transfers

• Employment Income – $63,190.40
• Taxes – $8,218.54
• After-Tax Income – $54,971.86
• Non-Wage Income – $13,289.46
• Available Income – $68,261.32
• Family Expenses- $68,255.24
• Gap – $6.08

Living Wage – $34.72 (divided by two adults) $17.36

This calculation does not take into account the costs of debt payments, savings for retirement, vacations, or for their children’s post-secondary education.

While a minimum wage reflects the hourly wage employers must legally pay their employees, a living wage represents the hourly wage needed to cover the costs of living at a modest level in a specific community.

Minimum wages do not come close to meeting the actual cost of living for individuals and families, whereas a living wage can make a world of difference in health outcomes and quality of life.

From an employers’ perspective, research indicates that employers providing a living wage benefit from decreased staff turnover, improved productivity and reduced absenteeism. Employers may also benefit from having a reputation as a business with a record of social responsibility.

Examples of other cities with living wages:

• Grande Prairie – $15.55 (2012)
• Red Deer – $16.48 (2013)
• Calgary – $17.29 (2014)
• Toronto – $18.52 (2015)
• Victoria – $18.93 (2014)
• Vancouver – $20.10 (2014)

The living wage rate varies across Canada due to differences in the cost of living and government transfers, as it is based on local and provincial costs for goods such as food, housing, health care, transportation and child care.

Thirty cities in four provinces have engaged in local discussions on how to create living wage communities.