Ontario’s Precariat
Hennessy’s Index is a listing of numbers, written by the CCPA’s Trish Hennessy, about Canada and its place in the world. For other editions, visit: www.policyalternatives.ca/index
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695,000
That’s the number of workers in Ontario who worked in a minimum wage job in 2014. A full-time, full-year minimum wage earner doesn’t earn enough to rise above Ontario’s poverty line.
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396%
That’s the percentage increase of Ontario workers who were working for the minimum wage in 2014 compared to 1997.
- 11.9%
That’s the share of Ontario workers who earned the minimum wage in 2014. In 1997, minimum wage earners only represented 2.4 per cent of all workers in Ontario.
- 94%
That’s how many more low-wage workers (those earning within $4 of the minimum wage) there were in Ontario in 2014 compared to 1997, outstripping total employment growth, which grew by 30 per cent over that time.
- 29.4%
That’s the share of workers who made within $4 of the minimum wage (making up to $15 in 2014) in Ontario in 2014. In 1997, the share of low-wage workers within this income range only represented 19.8 per cent of the Ontario workforce.
- 1.7 million
That’s how many minimum wage and low-wage workers (earning $11-$15) there were in Ontario in 2014.
- 66%
That’s how many minimum wage workers in Ontario who are older than 20 years of age. Only 34 per cent of minimum wage workers in Ontario are under 20.
- Six in 10
That’s how many minimum wage workers in Ontario who face unpredictable hours at their job. For those earning within $4 of the minimum wage ($11-$15), four in 10 low-wage workers deal with the problem of unpredictable hours.
- 16.8%
That’s the shockingly small percentage of minimum wage earners in Ontario who get paid for taking time off work. Only one quarter (24.9 per cent) of low-wage workers get paid for a work absence.
- 56.8%
That’s how many Ontario workers who earn $15 or more get paid for their absence from work – a sharp contrast from low-paying jobs that force workers to take sick leave or vacation time on their own dime.
- One in two
That’s how many Ontario workers don’t have access to a 40-hour-a-week job (50.5 per cent). That’s up from 42.7 per cent in 1997.
- 6%
That’s how few workers in Ontario’s accommodation and food services sector – such as people who serve coffee and clean hotel rooms – who are represented by a union.
Source for all data points: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/higher-standard.
