DOCSLIB.ORG

An Examination of Alberta's Minimum Wage

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
An Examination of Alberta's Minimum Wage University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Master of Public Policy Capstone Projects 2018-08-30 An Examination of Alberta’s Minimum Wage Kosiorek, Keyli Kosiorek, K. (2018). An Examination of Alberta’s Minimum Wage (Unpublished master's project). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109307 master thesis Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca MASTER OF PUBLIC POLICY CAPSTONE PROJECT An Examination of Alberta’s Minimum Wage Submitted by: Keyli Kosiorek Approved by Supervisor: Trevor Tombe Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of PPOL 623 and completion of the requirements for the Master of Public Policy degree. [ i ] Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Trevor Tombe for sharing his wealth of knowledge and providing me with guidanCe and support throughout my Capstone proCess. I appreCiate you aCCommodating our last-minute meetings from aCross the Country and province, your critical feedback, and the time you spent supporting me in other endeavors. Your sinCere desire for me to suCCeed has not gone unnotiCed, thank you. Thank you to my MPP Classmates. This year Could not have been the same without all of you, our inside jokes, and our nights out after exams. I wish you all the best in the future and I look forward to our continued friendship. Thank you to the School of Public Policy faculty for providing our class with the tools we required to Complete the program and our Capstone projeCts and help us advance our Careers in policy work. I am so glad I made the ChoiCe to pursue the MPP program. Matthew, thank you for editing all my papers this year, taking me out for iCe Cream when things got tough, and always being my best friend. Most importantly, a heartfelt thank you goes out to parents. Words Cannot begin to desCribe the overwhelming gratitude I feel for the Constant enCouragement and love you give me. Thank you for instilling in me a strong passion for learning that has brought me to where I am today. “Sometimes I’ll start a sentenCe and I don’t even know where it is going. I just hope to find it along the way”. – Michael Scott [ iii ] Table of Contents IntroduCtion ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Minimum Wage BaCkground ........................................................................................................................ 5 The Minimum Wage & It’s Purpose ...................................................................................................... 5 Minimum Wage in Canada ................................................................................................................... 5 Alberta’s Minimum Wage over Time .................................................................................................... 8 Who earns the minimum wage in Alberta? .......................................................................................... 9 Proposed Changes to Alberta’s Minimum Wage .............................................................................. 11 Saskatchewan: Minimum Wage Indexed to CPI ................................................................................ 11 EconomiC Theory ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Minimum Wage in a Competitive Labour Market ............................................................................. 12 ElastiCity of Demand .......................................................................................................................... 16 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................................... 20 The New Jersey Minimum Wage Study ............................................................................................. 21 Canadian Studies: 1979-2005 ............................................................................................................ 22 Non-Canadian Studies on Minimum Wage and Employment .......................................................... 25 Canadian Studies: 2005-today ........................................................................................................... 25 The Effect of Minimum Wage on Labour Market Flows ................................................................... 27 Minimum Wage and Poverty ............................................................................................................. 29 EmpiriCal Model ......................................................................................................................................... 29 Data and Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 30 Results ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 DisCussion ................................................................................................................................................... 34 The Cost of the Minimum Wage ........................................................................................................ 34 Alternative Anti-Poverty PoliCies ....................................................................................................... 35 Alberta and the $15 Minimum Wage ................................................................................................ 37 [ v ] ConClusion .................................................................................................................................................. 38 PoliCy Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 38 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................. 47 [ v ] Executive Summary Throughout its history, the minimum wage has always been a Controversial poliCy. PolitiCians, eConomists, businesses and Citizens are continually engaged in debates over its effeCtiveness and its unintended ConsequenCes. Initially designed to proteCt workers from exploitation, the minimum wage has been gaining popularity as an anti-poverty tool. In fact, in recent history there has been a $15 minimum wage movement taking plaCe aCross North AmeriCa that aims to put more money into the poCkets of those in need and thus reduCe poverty. In 2015, under the newly eleCted NDP government, the Government of Alberta implemented the $15 minimum wage poliCy. Their plan to reach $15 Consisted of a 47% inCrease of the minimum wage in just 3 years. Alberta was the first provinCe in Canada to implement suCh a poliCy, but sinCe then, Ontario and British Colombia have followed in their footsteps. There is an abundanCe of researCh on the minimum wage from both the US and Canada, muCh of whiCh is foCused on the impaCt of the minimum wage on employment. While researChers have not reaChed a Consensus on the magnitude of the effeCts, most agree that inCreasing the minimum wage has a negative impaCt on employment, espeCially for low-skilled workers and youth. While the research is plentiful, there have been no studies that have [ vi ] examined the impaCt of the $15 minimum wage movement on employment. Additionally, there has been no study that has looked at Alberta speCifically. This paper adds to the existing literature by analyzing the impaCt that a rapidly inCreasing minimum wage has had on employment and unemployment in Alberta. To understand the effects of Alberta’s inCreasing minimum wage on employment and unemployment, I used a natural/observation study of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Alberta was the treatment group in my study beCause its minimum wage inCreased signifiCantly starting in 2015. Saskatchewan was the natural Control group in my study beCause they did not inCrease their minimum wage arbitrarily and only adjusted it slightly eaCh year for inflation. BeCause the two provinCes are so similar in many ways including industry, political landscape, Saskatchewan’s data beCame the baseline measure of the experiment. Thus, any Changes in Alberta’s employment rates that were not seen in SaskatChewan Could attributed to the inCrease in minimum wage that Alberta experienCed. For my study I used pooled time-series data ColleCted from the Canadian Labour ForCe Survey to Compare the two provinCes in a regression analysis. The analyses were run on four different age groups: 15+, 15-24, 25-54 and 55+. The results from my empiriCal analysis were consistent with previous literature with Coefficients for the employment rate between -0.068 and -0.434 for the period between 1997 and 2017 in Alberta. I also found coefficients for the unemployment rate between 1.064 and 2.327 in the same time period. These results indicate that the inCrease in the minimum wage in Alberta resulted in a reduCtion in the employment rate and an inCrease in the unemployment rate. [ vi ] In addition to this empiriCal analysis, I looked at the cost of Alberta’s minimum wage increases since 2015. I calculated
Load more

Recommended publications
  • December 2015
    Fall 2015 OUR TIME HAS COME TOGETHER, WE CAN HELP ELECT CANADA’S FIRST NDP GOVERNMENT The newsletter of CUPE Alberta Victories for working people Since its election on May 5th, the Notley government has moved on two long standing issues of importance to working Albertans. In June, Jobs, Skills Training and Labour Minister, Lori Sigurdson announced that Alberta would no longer have the lowest minimum wage in Canada. The NDP raised minimum wage from $10.20 to $11.20, and increased the rate for alcohol servers to $10.70. The government also indicated it would fulfill its election promise to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour by 2018 and eliminate the separate wage rate for alcohol servers in 2016. Prior to the increase, which took affect October 1st, Alberta had the lowest minimum wage in Canada. The Notley government is the first jurisdiction in Canada to announce a $15 minimum wage, although several US Cities have already enacted it. Following the minimum wage increase the NDP government introduced legislation in November to include farmworkers in labour law. Prior to the legislation – Alberta was the only remaining province Farmworkers of Alberta, applauded the move, pointing where agricultural workers were not allowed to join out that since every other province had already made unions, were not covered by WCB, and were not these changes, it was long overdue. protected by Employment Standards or Health & Safety “We’re the only jurisdiction in North America and the regulations. In fact, worker deaths on farms could not European Union that has no standards at all.
    [Show full text]
  • INFORMATION to USERS the Most Advanced Technology Has Been
    INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. These are also available as one exposure on a standard 35mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms international A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 Nortfi Zeeb Road.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce Policy Book
    2018-2019 Policy Book Last Updated: February 2020 With the largest and most influential business organizations locally, provincially and federally, the Chamber network is the most unified, valued and influential business network in Canada and works together to shape policy and programs that will make a difference to businesses in our region. 1 POLICY BOOK 2018- 2019 APPROVED POLICIES FOR THE MEDICINE HAT & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MUNICIPAL Municipal Election Policy ........................................................................................................................................................................ Page 6 Approved May 2012, Renewed December 2012, Amended May 2017 Defining a Process for Electorate Information ....................................................................................................................................... Page 7 Approved December 2012, Amended September 2013 Opposition to Land Transfer Tax ............................................................................................................................................................ Page 8 Approved March 2013 Municipal Red Tape Reduction ............................................................................................................................................................ Page 10 Approved March 2013 Tax Equity: Narrowing the Gap Between Residential and Non-Residential Property Taxes ............................................................. Page 13 Approved January 2018 Sustainable
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Minimum Wage
    Federal Minimum Wage Issue Paper This paper is one of a series of papers prepared by the Secretariat to the Expert Panel on Modern Federal Labour Standards as background information to stimulate the Panel's discussions. The papers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada. January 2019 FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE ISSUE PAPER ISSUE For more than 20 years, the federal minimum wage has been pegged in the Canada Labour Code to the minimum wage rate in the province or territory in which the employee is usually employed. Should this approach be maintained or should a freestanding federal minimum wage be reinstated? If a freestanding rate were to be adopted, how should it be set, at what level and who should be entitled to it? BACKGROUND The minimum wage is the lowest wage rate that an employer can legally pay its employees and is a core labour standard. The underlying policy intent for establishing minimum wages varies. Governments have historically put them in place with a view to protecting non-unionized workers, reducing the number of low-paying jobs, alleviating poverty, creating incentives to work, addressing inequality and stimulating growth through increased demand. Minimum wages are also set and adjusted in different ways: in legislation or regulations; by the government-of-the-day or an independent board; and based on inflation, average wage rates or other economic factors. The first minimum wage rates were established in Canada in the early 20th century and applied primarily to women and children. Manitoba and British Columbia introduced minimum wage legislation in 1918 and Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan followed suit in 1920.
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 113 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
    E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 160 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014 No. 5 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was the world, many of them trafficked for This January designated as National called to order by the Speaker pro tem- labor, but increasingly for underaged Slavery and Human Trafficking Pre- pore (Mr. MESSER). girls. For young women, this is a case vention Month is a perfect time to f where they are exploited in this traf- shine a spotlight on the dark issue of ficking as well. trafficking, but awareness is only a DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO Even in my work as chairman of the first step. More needs to be done. TEMPORE Foreign Affairs Committee, I have To that end, I would urge my col- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- learned that human trafficking is no leagues to join me in cosponsoring H.R. fore the House the following commu- longer just a problem ‘‘over there.’’ It 3344, the Fraudulent Overseas Recruit- nication from the Speaker: is a problem in our communities here. ment and Trafficking Elimination Act, It is a problem in developing econo- to combat one critical form of recur- WASHINGTON, DC, ring abuse: namely, that is unscrupu- January 9, 2014. mies, but also it is a problem in the I hereby appoint the Honorable LUKE United States and in Europe. It is a lous recruiters. By targeting the re- MESSER to act as Speaker pro tempore on scourge even in the communities that cruiters we can do a lot—these recruit- this day.
    [Show full text]
  • Myths and Facts About the Minimum Wage in BC We Can Avoid the Need for Large One-Time Increases in the Future Simply by Indexing the Minimum Wage to Inflation
    Myths and Facts About the Minimum Wage in BC WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MINIMUM WAGE earner in British Columbia? It means making $8 per hour — or as little as $6 if you’re getting the so-called “training wage.” If you work full-time, it means paydays that bring in at most $640 — and that’s before deductions. It means seeing your buying power eaten away year after year by rising living costs — BC’s minimum wage has been frozen since 2001, but you pay 2011 prices just like everyone else. And it means living on an annual income that is well below the poverty line for a single person. Back in 2001, BC had the highest minimum wage in Canada. However, other provinces have since made increases, leaving BC at the bottom of the rankings with the lowest minimum wages in the entire country. It is time to raise the minimum wage. And while we are at it, we should take politics out of the equation by developing a clear rationale for how it is set. We propose that a single person working full-time year-round should earn (at least) enough to live above the poverty line. The idea that someone working full-time, full-year should be able to get out of poverty is a clear, transparent policy decision that should determine the minimum wage in BC and in other provinces. Equally important is to legislate regularly scheduled increases tied to inflation, to ensure low-wage workers do not face what amounts to a pay cut as a result of rising prices.
    [Show full text]
  • Bold Ideas for State Action
    GETTY/GEORGE ROSE Bold Ideas for State Action By the Center for American Progress May 2018 WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.ORG Bold Ideas for State Action By the Center for American Progress May 2018 Contents 1 Introduction and summary 4 Economy 17 Education 30 Early childhood 36 Health care 43 Restoring democracy 50 Clean energy and the environment 57 Women and families 64 Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer rights 67 Immigration 72 Criminal justice 79 Gun violence prevention 84 Conclusion 85 Endnotes Introduction and summary The past several decades have not been kind to America’s working families. Costs have skyrocketed while wages remain stagnant. Many of the jobs that have returned in the wake of the Great Recession have often offered lower wages and benefits, leaving Americans without college degrees particularly vulnerable. Fissures in the country are more apparent than ever, as access to opportunity is radically different between communities; the wealthiest grow richer while working families find themselves increasingly strapped. As a result of perpetual underinvestment in infrastructure, education, and other domestic priorities, the future for too many Americans looks increasingly grim, unequal, and uncertain. Federal policies passed or implemented in the past year will largely result in expanded inequality, not in rebuilding the middle class. The new tax law, as pushed by the Trump administration and congressional leadership, gives billions of dollars in tax cuts to companies and the wealthiest Americans instead of providing further support to those who need it most. As was true in the 2000s and more recently in states such as Kansas, showering tax giveaways on the wealthiest individuals and corporations does not create jobs or raise wages.1 Rather, when the baseless promises of economic growth do not materialize, the result is lower revenues and, ultimately, major cuts to critical investments in areas such as schools, infrastructure, and public services.
    [Show full text]
  • We Are Ontario's Catholic Teachers
    Position Papers TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Setting every young learner on the path to success Early childhood education and care is a vital public investment ......................................................................... 4 Full-day Kindergarten builds a solid foundation for every student ................................................................... 6 Building safe and inclusive school communities The well-being of students and teachers is paramount ................................................................................................ 8 Targeted classroom funding can help remove barriers to learning ................................................................... 11 Investment in Indigenous education will improve outcomes for all learners ........................................ 12 Additional resources are necessary to support students with special education needs .................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Going beyond the basics of learning Catholic education provides unique and important value .......................................................................................... 15 Class size matters ....................................................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Living Wage Movements in Canada and the United States Bryan
    80 | Austerity Urbanism and the Social Economy Alternatives to the Low Waged Economy: Living Wage Movements in Canada and the United States Bryan Evans1 ABSTRACT: The forty-years of neoliberal capitalism has been accompanied by an ever expanding trend toward deepening inequality and the expansion of a low wage labour market. The expansion of the non-union, post-industrial, ‘new’ economy characterized by low wage service sector jobs became identified with a deterioration in employment conditions and quality. Employment arrangements, reflecting the new normal, offer not security and adequacy but rather low pay and precarity. Living wage movements, as well as campaigns demanding a higher general minimum wage, have emerged as part of the response demanding economic justice. These movements and campaigns, found both in the United States and Canada, are significantly different in breadth and tactics. Here, those differences are described and interrogated as a function of the uneven terrain of neoliberal restructuring within each country. KEYWORDS: Living Wage; Minimum Wage; Canada; United States; Local Introduction The forty-year ascent and normalization of neoliberal capitalism is coterminous with an ever expanding trend toward deepening inequality (Giles 2014; Piketty 2014). The Great Financial Crisis of 2008, and the consequent age of austerity ushered in as states turned to fiscal consolidation once the financial system was stabilized, has contributed to an intensification of this process of economic polarization. In response, living wage as well as campaigns demanding a higher general minimum wage, have emerged as movements for economic justice. This movement 1 Bryan Evans is Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University.
    [Show full text]
  • One Team: a Historical Analysis of Inequalities Between Men's and Women's Professional Soccer Allyson O
    College of the Holy Cross CrossWorks Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Student Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Scholarship 5-9-2018 One Team: A Historical Analysis of Inequalities between Men's and Women's Professional Soccer Allyson O. Braciska College of the Holy Cross, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/gsw_stu_scholarship Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Income Distribution Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, and the Sports Studies Commons Recommended Citation Braciska, Allyson O., "One Team: A Historical Analysis of Inequalities between Men's and Women's Professional Soccer" (2018). Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Student Scholarship. 13. https://crossworks.holycross.edu/gsw_stu_scholarship/13 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at CrossWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Student Scholarship by an authorized administrator of CrossWorks. One Nation, One Team: A Historical Analysis of Inequalities between Men's and Women's Professional Soccer Allyson Braciska GSWS Capstone Professor Anne Blaschke 5/9/2017 One Nation, One Team: A Historical Analysis of Inequalities Between Men's and Women's Professional Soccer Braciska Background: The sport of soccer is one of the oldest and most popular organized athletic activities in the world. When comparing participation rates, revenue figures, and overall popularity, there is no doubt that soccer deserves the title of “the world’s sport.” It has been utilized to bring many nations together by rallying for a common cause, fostering incorporation and participation, and providing a source of entertainment to millions.
    [Show full text]
  • Workchoices and Workplace Bullying: More Disadvantages for Women Workers Under the New Legislation
    Illawarra Unity - Journal of the Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History Volume 6 Issue 2 Illawarra Unity Article 4 December 2006 WorkChoices and workplace bullying: more disadvantages for women workers under the new legislation Di J. Kelly University of Wollongong, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/unity Recommended Citation Kelly, Di J., WorkChoices and workplace bullying: more disadvantages for women workers under the new legislation, Illawarra Unity - Journal of the Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, 6(2), 2006, 32-48. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/unity/vol6/iss2/4 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] WorkChoices and workplace bullying: more disadvantages for women workers under the new legislation Abstract Considerable evidence points to an increase in workplace bullying, in large part as a consequence of competitive pressures, the predominance of business values, and concomitantly, the declining legitimacy ascribed to fairness and social justice. This paper examines workplace bullying in the context of the recent employment relations legislation in Australia (WorkChoices). It is shown that the legislation will enhance and extend women’s labour market disadvantage by shifting the employment relationship to the private sphere, together with informalisation of workplace relations, reduced access to formal procedures and reduced accountability and transparency. Moreover, overt government support of business wishes will enable managers and employers to condone or encourage bullying.
    [Show full text]
  • By Way of Analogy: the Expansion of the Federal Government in the 1930S
    This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research Volume Title: The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century Volume Author/Editor: Michael D. Bordo, Claudia Goldin and Eugene N. White, editors Volume Publisher: University of Chicago Press Volume ISBN: 0-226-06589-8 Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/bord98-1 Publication Date: January 1998 Chapter Title: By Way of Analogy: The Expansion of the Federal Government in the 1930s Chapter Author: Hugh Rockoff Chapter URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c6891 Chapter pages in book: (p. 125 - 154) 4 By Way of Analogy: The Expansion of the Federal Government in the 1930s Hugh Rockoff 4.1 Ideological Change and the Growth of the Federal Bureaucracy The major turning point in the growth of the federal government was, of course, the New Deal. A host of programs were added that in themselves ac- count for a substantial share of the growth of government in the twentieth cen- tury, and the propensity to add new programs increased. The New Deal was the result of a unique concatenation of forces: the unprecedented magnitude of the contraction, the political accident that the party favoring bigger government was out of power when the contraction began, and the unique personalities of Hoover and Roosevelt were among the most important. Moreover, as many historians of the Great Depression have recognized, there was an important ideological factor in the equation: intellectuals had already been converted to the cause of an expanded federal sector.
    [Show full text]