Erin Sims and her seven-year-old son Luca live in Kamloops. Sims works two jobs and still can't afford to put money away for herself and her son after rent, bills and groceries are paid.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Erin Sims

KAMLOOPS - There are countless reasons why a parent may be raising their children on their own. Whether it’s by choice or not, trying to make ends meet for single parent is challenging. 

For a Kamloops single mother the finance-based decisions as she raises her seven-year-old son are stressful. Especially since the cost of raising a family in British Columbia has increased again.

Recently, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report contained the new living wage for 2018 in communities across the province.

According to the Living Wage for Families report, a living wage is the amount a family of four with both parents working full-time must earn hourly to meet the most basic needs. This can include rent, groceries, healthcare and transportation costs. 

For Kamloops, the hourly living wage increased from $16.90 in 2017 to $17.31 this year.

“That doesn’t include savings, no debt repayment. It’s really just the bare bones,” says Deanna Ogle, Living Wage for Families campaign organizer.

She says the provincial minimum wage of $11.35 simply isn’t enough for families to afford the cost of living in communities across B.C.

“When we look at these calculations and compare it the minimum wage, we know the (minimum) wage is not enough,” says Ogle. “So that really helps us understand that many people are having to make very difficult choices to make ends meet, like choosing to buy a prescription over buying a bus pass."

Kamloops single mom Erin Sims and her son Luca have been a family of two since her son was born. They moved to Kamloops from Calgary to be closer to family in May 2017. Sims works two jobs and is going to school to get her real estate license and makes roughly $32,000 a year, which works out to $15.38 an hour.

“I fully support my son on my own, his father isn’t in the picture at all,” Sims says. “My paycheques are stretched to the penny, I don’t really have anything extra at the end.”

Sims says after rent, groceries and bills, there really isn’t much left for savings. She hopes by going to school and getting her real estate license she will eventually be able to put away money for herself and her son.

“I work really hard, I have two jobs and I’m trying to go to school to better my income,” Sims says.

When her son was younger, her childcare costs were $1,050 every month in Calgary. Fortunately, Sims qualified for government subsidies which paid for almost half her full-time childcare payments.

This is the first year where she doesn’t need childcare, subsidized or otherwise, and Sims says it is a huge financial relief.

“He’s been in full-time care since he was two because I have to work to support him,” she says.

Ogle says a lot of families look at childcare payments as a second rent or mortgage. In Kamloops the average childcare cost is $1,200 per month.

“Having affordable childcare is really key, especially for single parents,” Ogle says. “We have such high poverty rates for single moms because they are not able to earn enough.”

By releasing the living wage calculations, she says it brings awareness and attention to all levels of governments, and can encourage employers to pay a living wage.

“The reason we calculate the number is to understand the costs families are facing in communities,” Ogle says. “It creates policy opportunities for all different government levels to take action.”

And some actions have taken place; earlier this year the province announced a billion dollar childcare program aimed to help parents save money on their monthly daycare bills.

Eight local governments across B.C. have living wage policies, according to the living wage report.

“These childcare initiatives are so important, especially for a single parent,” Ogle says.

Sims says she rarely ever spends on herself.

“We don’t really eat out at all, I don’t go to the salon, I put it towards my son because he grows so fast,” she says.

“I see a lot of negative (Facebook) comments about how single mom’s kind of get what they deserve, but I just want people to know we work really, really hard to have so little."

She hopes one day after she finishes school she will be able to start saving money.

“Hopefully one day I can put some money away and have some retirement savings, but at this point, there is none of that.”

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