Manitoba is changing its minimum wage to fifteen dollars per hour in October in the upcoming year. The thing about this minimum wage raise is that it will increase by approximately three dollars. Usually, the minimum wage rises by cents, but this time it’s gone up by so much.
This raise is believed to help Manitobans with the inflation crisis hitting the country right now. The Premier of Manitoba, Heather Stefanson, announced, “My message today is clear: our government is here to help you. To help you and your families mitigate these challenges, we have done a number of things already, and we recognize that there are further inflationary pressures out there. I’ve indicated that we’re looking at what we might be doing, which could be one option for providing more affordability. But we’ll have more. We’ll have more coming in the weeks ahead on that front.”
This is good news for most Manitobans, and many are pretty happy with this news, especially now that Manitoba is facing very harsh inflationary prices for fuel and food and increasing poverty rates. “I was delighted with this news when the premier said, ‘Stay tuned, we’ll have some interesting things to say coming forward, I believe.’ I wasn’t expecting the minimum wage to increase this much; I’m very pleased; now I think things will be a bit better when this begins in October.” said a Manitoban when asked to comment on this news.
Many are pleased and are looking forward to this increase in the province’s minimum wage, which was very needed, considering that Manitoba is at an inflation rate of 9.4 percent. “This wage increase will provide much-needed support to hard-working Manitobans who have been burdened by soaring cost-of-living increases, Manitobans have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are committed to relieving some of the financial strain,” said Reg Helwer, Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services.
Although raising the minimum wage might seem very pleasant, everything has its cons and pros. And the province will face the pros and cons of this decision eventually. The first thing that many are worried about is the rise in inflation due to this decision. “Stop or inflation will rise. Raising the minimum wage makes no difference when prices skyrocket. It just means you make the same or less actually,” commented a citizen on the news.
Alfred Mill, author of Personal Finance 101, Economics 101, and Social Security 101, mentioned in his book Economics 101 that “According to economism, a pair of supply and demand curves proves that a minimum wage increases unemployment and hurts exactly the low-wage workers it is supposed to help.” He also said, “…the increase in the minimum wage has no effect..in the end, the policy meant to help the poor helped those who maintained their jobs.” The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg said, “Minimum wage should be at least 16 dollars so people can afford to live as costs keep rising”.
But with the increase of minimum wages comes valuable advantages, such as the fact that many people will be saved from poverty and “a related potential benefit is a projected reduction in the need for federal and state government expenditures on financial aid for low-income individuals.” meaning that the economy will be able to get in more taxes and lessen the financial aid for the citizens in need because they won’t be in-need any more.
Moreover, Manitobans should be ready for the pros and cons of the increase in the province’s minimum wage at the beginning of October 2022, and onwards in the year 2023, the minimum will keep rising till it reaches fifteen dollars per hour in the October of 2023.
Sources:
– Halla Alhamed, U Multicultural
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of U Multicultural.
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