Living from paycheque to paycheque

‘There was always a nest egg in the bank and you just don’t have that anymore,’ mom says

Before COVID-19 hit and sent Niagara, Canada and much of the rest of the world into a state of emergency, Allison Cormier never imagined there would be a time when her family would be living from paycheque to paycheque.

The Welland resident said she always considered her family to be middle class.

Cormier left her nursing job at a hospital and now works in nurse management and her husband works as an environmental service manager.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Cormier wasn’t able to see her children and worked endless hours during what she described as some of the “worst times” for nurses.

Now two years on, the cost of living has skyrocketed, and Cormier said when each paycheque rolls in, she and her husband have choices to make about where their money goes.

“Even with two incomes, the increased price of things as they are, we still find it difficult,” she said.

“You think, ‘OK, well this isn’t going to be for gas. It’s got to be for groceries,’ and you end up with maybe 200 bucks (after bills are paid) and the extra has got to get you through the next couple of weeks.”

Cormier recognizes $200 might be a lot to some people, but it isn’t much for a family of four: two adults and two kids.

“You can easily blow through that within one day if your kid needs a new pair of shoes, or if you need something like a tank of gas. Then you’re done.”

Cormier gave the example of gas prices; when the price was about $1 a litre, she could fill her truck for about $65.

Now, that cost is about $140. To stretch dollars further, Cormier said her family had cut the cord on the cable, they don’t go out to eat often, they don’t take vacations and they find free or cheap things to do with the kids.

Cormier said something needs to change because a dual-income family making anywhere in the neighbourhood of $100,000 a year should be able to afford necessities like housing, food and gas.

“I can’t stand living paycheque to paycheque. And we never did that up until the last couple of years. There was always a nest egg in the

bank and you just don’t have that anymore.”

Statistics Canada reported on May 18 that Canada’s inflation rate in April was the highest it’s been in 31 years.

While the minimum wage in Ontario is set at $15.50 an hour, the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network (NPRN) estimates the cost of living to be higher in Niagara. The organization has pegged Niagara’s living wage at $18.90 per hour.

Lori Kleinsmith, health promoter at Bridges Community Health Centre in Port Colborne, said the NPRN puts out an annual report

each November that calculates the living wage in Niagara that factors in expenses like the cost of food, transit, recreation, clothing and child care.

That number allows people to actively participate in their community; it doesn’t include frills or extras.

When asked what she thought the living wage might be calculated next November, she didn’t want to wager a guess.

“I would say $18.90 an hour would be considered lower than the actual cost of living because of the inflation we are seeing at this point.”

‘‘ I can’t stand living paycheque to paycheque.

ALLISON CORMIER WELLAND MOTHER