| Wages and Child and Family Poverty in Alberta: Fact Sheet |
How many children are living below the Low Income Cut Off in Alberta?
According to the latest Statistics Canada figures, there are 64,000 children in Alberta in families with income below the LICO After Tax. (8.6% - or one in twelve of all Children in Alberta) 1
How many of these children have parents working full time, all year long?
49% of all the children living in families with income below the Statistics Canada low-income cut off have at least one family member who has worked full time full year.
How many people are making less than $12/hour?
There are 343,400 employed Albertans making less than $12/hour (April 1, 2007). This is 21.9% of all employed Albertans. 2
How do Alberta’s major cities compare?
|
Municipality
|
Total workforce
|
Earning less than $12.00/hour
|
Earning less than $12.00/hour (% of total)
|
Earning less than $12.00/hour, age 25+
|
Women earning less than $12.00/hour
|
|
Alberta
|
1,568,300
|
343,400
|
21.9%
|
177,600
|
219,600
|
|
Edmonton
|
493,800
|
113,200
|
22.9%
|
58,600
|
73,300
|
|
Calgary
|
556,900
|
107,500
|
19.3%
|
57,600
|
65,900
|
|
Red Deer
|
38,800
|
9600
|
24.74%
|
4400
|
5900
|
|
Lethbridge
|
36,500
|
10,600
|
29.04%
|
5700
|
5900
|
|
Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River
|
102,600
|
22,100
|
21.5%
|
11,000
|
15,100
|
|
Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake
|
53,400
|
9300
|
17.4%
|
4800
|
6400
|
Are the majority of low wage workers young people?
There are 177,600 people in Alberta who are older than 24 years of age making less than $12/hour. In other words 52% of all people working in this low wage jobs are older than 24 years of age.
How do women compare to men when it comes to earning low wages?
There are 219,600 women earning less than $12/hour – this is 64% of the total number of people earning less than $12/hour.
Notes
1 – Statistics Canada measures the number of children in families living below the low-income cut off both before tax and after tax is taken into consideration. The following is the amounts used for the LICO after tax depending upon the size of the community.
|
Low Income Cut-offs 2005 (1992 Base) After Tax
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Size of Family
|
Community Size
|
|
|
Rural Areas
|
Urban Areas
|
|
|
|
Less than 30,000
|
30,000 to 99,999
|
100,000 to 499,999
|
500,000 and over
|
|
1 person
|
11,264
|
12,890
|
14,380
|
14,562
|
17,219
|
|
2 persons
|
13,709
|
15,690
|
17,502
|
17,723
|
20,956
|
|
3 persons
|
17,071
|
19,535
|
21,794
|
22,069
|
26,095
|
|
4 persons
|
21,296
|
24,373
|
27,190
|
27,532
|
32,556
|
|
5 persons
|
24,251
|
27,754
|
30,962
|
31,351
|
37,071
|
|
6 persons
|
26,895
|
30,780
|
34,338
|
34,769
|
41,113
|
|
7 or more persons
|
29,539
|
33,806
|
37,713
|
38,187
|
45,155
|
2 – All the data that measures the number of low-wage workers in Alberta were purchased by Public Interest Alberta from Statistics Canada and is the average annual salaries for the year ending April 1, 2007.
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