At a recent Moscow Food Co-op Board of Directors meeting, I made a presentation on living wage. According to the Northwest Job Gap Study, a living wage allows someone to pay their bills, with something left over. It is not minimum wage or a poverty wage.  The formula for a living wage is base wage + benefits = living wage. To calculate the living wage we used a model designed by CDS Consulting Group. This model helps us calculate living expenses for Latah County, and then compare our wages and benefits against those expenses.

At a recent Moscow Food Co-op Board of Directors meeting, I made a presentation on living wage. According to the Northwest Job Gap Study, a living wage allows someone to pay their bills, with something left over. It is not minimum wage or a poverty wage.  The formula for a living wage is base wage + benefits = living wage. To calculate the living wage we used a model designed by CDS Consulting Group. This model helps us calculate living expenses for Latah County, and then compare our wages and benefits against those expenses. The model is calculated for a single person working 40 hours a week. The expenses we used are housing, utilities, food, healthcare, transportation, telephone, savings, and personal expenses.

Using local and government sources to complete the living wage model, we arrived at $10.74 per hour or $22,340 per year as the amount necessary to provide a living wage in Latah County. We then added the value of all the benefits we receive at the Co-op, including health insurance, employee discount, paid time off, retirement, and the lunch ticket.  The total value of all our benefits currently equals $3.35 per hour. In order to meet our standard for a living wage, the Co-op would have to provide $10.47 - $3.35 = $7.39 per hour as an entry wage.  Currently the minimum wage in Idaho is $7.25 per hour. Entry-level Co-op employees initially receive $8.25 per hour. They are raised to $8.50 per hour and are eligible for benefits after completing a three-month training period.  Applying the living wage calculation, a Co-op employee receives $8.50 + $3.50 or $12.00 living wage per hour. That is an annual living wage of $24,440. This is the lowest living wage 40-hour-per-week employees at the Co-op receive, once they have completed their training.

We realize that wages alone do not make for a best workplace, but it’s a good start. Along with our living wage we continually strive to listen to and answer employee concerns, model and expect respect among co-workers, and incorporate ideas and suggestions that make the Co-op a unique and desirable place to work. Applicants often tell me they want to work here because the Co-op shares many of their values. We are very pleased and happy that so many people want to work here. Thank you, Co-op employees! You have made the Moscow Food Co-op a true gem in the middle of North Idaho.