Anastasia French
VFR: Anastasia, tell us about yourself and your path to becoming the Provincial Manager for Living Wage for Families BC.
Anastasia French: I’ve always been a passionate individual trying to fight for change. I was the teenager in your high school who was getting people to sign petitions for the cafeteria to stock fair trade chocolate. Over the past 15 years, I’ve managed campaigns and projects for a variety of nonprofits in the UK and Canada which have changed laws and policies that have helped people living in debt.
In 2020, I joined the Living Wage Campaign. My mother was a Living Wage Employer in England, so this was something I knew a lot about. She would passionately tell me at the dinner table about the struggles she faced in ensuring that the cleaners they contracted earned a living wage.
Living wage is something I’m really passionate about because it takes an issue as big and complex as poverty and turns it into something tangible that we can all play a part in addressing. Politicians can introduce policies that lift wages and lower costs, employers can pay their workers and contractors a living wage, and we as consumers can choose where we spend our money.
I also recently became a volunteer for Vancouver Food Runners! I did my first shift last week, taking some donuts from Lee’s Donuts and delivering them to an SRO in the West End. I felt so happy to stop good food from going to landfill and to provide boxes and boxes of tasty donuts to people who wouldn’t have been able to buy them.
VFR: What exactly is a living wage? Also, please share about the vision, mission, and work of Living Wage for Families BC – and why you are so passionate about it!
AF: The living wage is the hourly amount that a worker needs to earn to pay for basic essentials like food and rent. Our vision is a province where every worker can thrive. A living wage is the gateway between surviving and thriving.
It is a modest budget that allows workers to overcome severe financial stress, move beyond working poverty, and participate in the social, civic, and cultural aspects of life.
We know we need to create the conditions for workers to earn a living wage. The living wage has increased dramatically in recent years because of the increased cost of essentials like food and rent. We are expanding our work to look at all of the conditions that affect workers earning a living wage.
We recognize our unique role as a convenor and catalyst. We can collaborate with workers, employers, unions, and governments. We will leverage our tools and collective strengths to advance our mission.
VFR: Tell us more about Metro Vancouver's current living wage, the upwards trend in the last few years, and some of the key factors driving this.
AF: The living wage for Metro Vancouver is now $25.68 an hour. This is over $5 an hour higher than it was two years ago. The main factors pushing up that wage are the increased costs of food and housing. The photo below summarizes the monthly living expenses for a Metro Vancouver family, so you can see the cost increases for all budget items.
1 in 3 workers in Metro Vancouver doesn't earn a living wage. The majority of these workers are women and people of color. Shockingly, half of all racialized women in Metro Vancouver don't earn a living wage.
VFR: You and your team are currently working on a Report on Food Affordability in BC. In a very basic way, can you describe the relationship between income, cost of living, and food security.
AF: Food insecurity is an income issue. If people had enough money to buy food, then they wouldn’t be food insecure. In the past two years, the cost of food has gone up by 24%, meaning that more people are experiencing food insecurity than ever before. In BC, over 1 in 5 people reported being food insecure last year.
If we can take steps to bring down the cost of food while simultaneously lifting wages and social assistance rates, then we can end food insecurity for everyone.
VFR: You're still gathering information and feedback for the report, but what are some of the themes emerging from the research?
AF: These are the main themes from the report:
🥝 Increasing rates of household food insecurity – 1 in 5 people are food insecure in BC.
🍍 Increasing dependency on food banks – up 78% in 5 years!
🍎 Individuals find creative solutions to put food on the table for their families – intermittent fasting, going to multiple grocery stores to find deals, depending on friends who are throwing out food.
🍋 There are limited options for consumers – the 4 major grocery chains in Canada control 90% of the market.
🍇 Address food waste – a shocking 58% of food is wasted in Canada! And a third of that is perfectly edible.
🌎 Climate change is impacting agriculture and food prices – a study by the European Central Bank predicts that higher temperatures will push food prices up by another 3%.
VFR: Vancouver Food Runners recently became a Living Wage Employer – which we're thrilled about! What are some of the benefits of being a Living Wage Employer? And where can people learn more about it?
AF: We are delighted that Vancouver Food Runners is a Living Wage Employer! 98% of Living Wage Employers in BC find a benefit from being part of the program – it helps with recruitment, lowering staff turnover, and helping organizations live up to their values. I’ve attached another chart that shows the benefits that employers have found.
And if someone would like to learn more about becoming a Living Wage Employer they can do so here:
https://www.livingwageforfamilies.ca/become_a_living_wage_employer
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