The provincial government recently established Health Accord NL, a task force with a mandated “focus on the social determinants of health,” that is, “the social and economic factors that influence people’s health.”
This is welcome news for the $15 and Fairness NL campaign and other anti-poverty groups.
One of the many reasons why our campaign advocates for a $15 minimum wage as a good first step toward a living wage is because — as the World Health Organization has declared — income is the most important social determinant of health.
According to the Government of Canada, studies show that low-income Canadians “are more likely to die earlier and to suffer more illnesses than Canadians with higher incomes, regardless of age, sex, race and place of residence.” Indeed, at “each rung up the income ladder, Canadians have less sickness, longer life expectancies and improved health.”
Income also has a direct impact upon other social determinants of health, such as housing, food security, and social exclusion.
As Joshua Smee, CEO of Food First NL, has written, “Food insecurity is overwhelmingly an income issue, and incomes in this city have taken some hits since the peak of the oil boom. We also have the fourth-lowest minimum wage in the country, and we know it’s quite possible to be both employed full-time and food insecure. Indeed, more than half of food-insecure households in the province rely on employment income.” (“Making St. John’s more food secure,” The Telegram, Oct. 29, 2020).
Nonetheless, the Canadian Public Health Association points out that “access to food and housing is clearly not available to many Canadians, family poverty rates are amongst the highest of developed nations, and the evidence indicates that these circumstances (lead) to adverse health outcomes.”
This is especially true in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In our submission to the 2019 Minimum Wage Review Committee (MWRC), we argued that “moving toward a living wage is not just wise economic policy, it’s also an important strategy for reducing rising health-care costs and for improving the overall health and wellness of the province’s population. Given existing higher rates of obesity, poor health and mortality in this province, a higher minimum wage ought to be considered an essential part of any initiative to improve provincial health outcomes.”
Eastern Health also made a submission to the MWRC outlining “the strong link between income/poverty and health” which should be a primary consideration in determining an appropriate minimum wage.
Sadly, the negative health consequences of our poverty-level minimum wage were not addressed in the subsequent minimum wage increases mandated by the provincial government.
It is our sincere hope that the Social Determinants of Health Committee of Health Accord NL will recognize the health benefits of, and advocate for, a living wage as an essential pillar of our health-care system.
A $15 minimum wage indexed to inflation would be a good first step toward achieving this laudable goal.
Mark Nichols
Community Organizer
$15 and Fairness NL
