Low-Income Households Missing Alberta’s Boom

 

Canadian Policy Research Networks have put out what looks like an interesting study. Their blurb follows. The study is at

http://www.cprn.org/doc.cfm?doc=1757&l=en 

Alberta is Canada’s hottest economy. Many Canadians are moving to Alberta drawn by its insatiable demand for skilled workers and professionals. Workers in Low-Income Households in Alberta, prepared for the Alberta Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Industry by CPRN Vice-President of Research Dr. Ron Saunders and Senior Researcher Richard Brisbois, assesses how low-income workers are doing in Alberta.

This report profiles people who are working full-time in Alberta but whose family income is below what is needed to purchase a “market basket” of goods and services that supports living decently. It identifies the challenges facing workers in low-income Alberta households despite the province’s extraordinary economic performance and offers a range of ideas for public policy that will strengthen support to them.

Potential solutions include improving opportunities by enhancing the assets of vulnerable workers, be these financial assets (savings), or human capital (skills); directly increasing income with a higher minimum wage and income supplements for low-income workers; improving access to basic social benefits through investments in affordable child care and affordable housing, and providing better access to insurance to pay costs of pharmaceuticals