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2 jobs, 2 side hustles, and never enough cash: How the gig economy is wearing this banking intern thin

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Mika Purni lives in a two-bedroom rental with her sister, amid what she calls the results of a ‘scarcity mindset,’ which compels her to collect clothing and food in the hopes of saving money down the line. (Malone Mullin/CBC)

This is Part 5 of The Grind, a series from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador on people who are working multiple jobs to offset the rising cost of living. 

Mika Purni rustles around a shopping bag, grabbing fistfuls of plastic-wrapped fabric tapestries.

“I’ll go to Value Village, I’ll get stuff for cheap, I’ll sell it cheap for other people,” she explains.

She glances around her two-bedroom apartment, the main floor of a house on a quiet street in St. John’s. Her sister looks on, amused, as Purni points to every piece of furniture in sight, rattling off the bargain prices she landed them for.

“The table was $40,” she said, gesturing around. “That lamp was free.”

Purni’s memory is a logbook of income streams and expenses. She remembers precisely how much she’s spent on everything around her — and every cent that goes out must come back in.

For Purni, and for about one million Canadians juggling more than one job, time truly is money. And time is her most important asset.

The 24-year-old handles money all week long as a banking intern. When she’s done that job, she heads to her retail gig at a mall. And after those shutters close, when most people are getting into bed, Purni logs onto DoorDash or Facebook Marketplace, either delivering food until the early morning or reselling thrift store items online.

“‘I need to sell this, I need to sell that,'” Purni said, describing the perpetual mantra running through her head.

“Constantly. All I do is think about money.”

Purni shows CBC News the apps she checks daily, looking for available shifts she can pick up. They’re often in the early hours of the morning. (Malone Mullin/CBC)

Purni spends her days trying to get ahead: to pay off her vet bills, save for new eyeglasses, and maybe one day have enough startup cash to buy a swath of makeup supplies and launch her own business.

But she’s trying to do that in an economy more reliant than ever on gig work, and in an era in which Canadians’ purchasing power has fallen dramatically, especially compared to its trading partners.

A report by C.D. Howe, released last month, notes that capital per worker has fallen dramatically over the last decade, contributing to “an ominous pattern of stagnating productivity and living standards.”

“In 2023, Canadian workers will likely receive only 65 cents of new capital for every dollar received by their counterparts in the OECD as a whole, and 58 cents for every dollar received by their counterparts in the United States,” the report’s authors wrote.

In this economy, Purni’s side hustles help her get by, but they’re not making her rich. And the lifestyle takes a toll.

“Every day I have panic attacks. Every day,” she sighs, just moments before she’s overcome with tears.

“Best way to explain it — in my head it’s me screaming, not even thinking. Screaming.”

‘Hustle culture’ an old idea

This obsession with work — and its link to self-attainment or virtuousness — isn’t new.

Karen Foster, a sociologist with Dalhousie University in Halifax, said the main idea behind “hustle culture” goes back centuries. It’s a modern term for an ancient idea.

“Hustle culture is like one new version of something that’s been around for a really long time. And that is this notion that … hard work, in itself, is a virtue,” Foster said.

“You know, ‘work is good even if it’s a grind, even if it’s wearing you down — it’s important to be productive.'”

This banking intern thinks about money non-stop, but can’t get ahead

 

Featured VideoMika Purni works two jobs and juggles two side hustles to pay the bills. Despite the effort, she’s at a point where she can’t bring herself to do anything unless she can monetize it. See Part 5 in the CBC Newfoundland & Labrador series The Grind, profiling people who work multiple jobs by necessity.

But that moral philosophy has been modified in the digital age. E-commerce and app-based gigs mean workers like Purni can now hustle around the clock, leaving little time for anything else.

Purni used to have hobbies. She paints and does makeup. But she can’t immediately monetize either of those things, which leads to crushing guilt whenever she spends her free time on leisure.

So instead of enjoying life, she’ll get in her car and start taking orders.

“There is a nagging thought,” she said. “‘I work in a bank, why … am I doing deliveries at 1 a.m.?'”

‘We feel guilt if we’re not earning’

Brice Sopher has been an app-based worker for eight years, driving for Uber in Toronto and delivering food for Skip the Dishes.

He’s now the head of Gig Workers United, an organization pushing for changes to labour laws to protect workers like Purni.

In recent months, he’s seen a spike in people using these apps to combat inflation.

“A lot of people that I speak to, myself included … started this type of work because life as we know it has become increasingly unaffordable,” Sopher said.

“It’s very difficult now for someone to sustain themselves, I think in most parts of Canada, with just one source of income.”

Brice Sopher delivers food on his bike for Uber Eats and Skip the Dishes. He’s also the president of Gig Workers United, an organization pushing for fair pay for app-based workers. (Farrah Merali/CBC)

The apps promise workers the ability to log on whenever they want — on their lunch hours, weekends, or after the kids fall asleep. But Sopher said it doesn’t quite play out the way they expect, leading to long, grueling hours on the road.

“You can log on and you can work whatever time you want to work, but that doesn’t guarantee that there will be orders for you to pick up. That also doesn’t guarantee that these apps will offer you a rate of pay that allows you to earn a living wage,” he said.

“Instead of the idea of flexibility, where the job … works around you, what tends to happen is your life tends to be worked around the job.”

Much like Purni, Sopher, at times, has felt pressured to work constantly.

“You would have any kind of down time, you would be thinking, you know what? Might as well go out and work. Might as well put myself to good use,” he said.

“I think, you know, in this culture [of] late-stage capitalism, we tend to feel guilt if we’re not earning, if we’re not productive. And these apps definitely play on that.”

Income supplement could offer relief

Sopher is fighting to be treated like an employee, with job protection and benefits. But there’s another possible solution.

A basic income supplement could ensure people like Purni always have the basics covered.

So when they work, they’re doing so to get ahead, and don’t have to worry about racking up debt when their cars break down or cats get sick like Purni’s did.

Purni digs through the food she’s bought on sale and saved for emergencies. (Malone Mullin/CBC)

Foster said the solution is pretty simple: a basic income supplement could ensure people holding precarious jobs or engaging in gig work don’t need to hustle around the clock to afford the basics.

“The only way to solve the problems created by poverty is to eliminate poverty,” Foster said.

“There’s all kinds of … ways that you can alleviate some of the symptoms like food banks or what have you, but it really doesn’t get to the root cause, which is people not having enough money.”

That’s the problem for Purni. No matter how much time she spends working, she never earns quite enough to feel secure.

“You have one sudden emergency and then your money’s gone,” she said.

“You do good until you don’t. I was doing good until I didn’t.”

 

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Economy

B.C.’s debt and deficit forecast to rise as the provincial election nears

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VICTORIA – British Columbia is forecasting a record budget deficit and a rising debt of almost $129 billion less than two weeks before the start of a provincial election campaign where economic stability and future progress are expected to be major issues.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, who has announced her retirement and will not seek re-election in the Oct. 19 vote, said Tuesday her final budget update as minister predicts a deficit of $8.9 billion, up $1.1 billion from a forecast she made earlier this year.

Conroy said she acknowledges “challenges” facing B.C., including three consecutive deficit budgets, but expected improved economic growth where the province will start to “turn a corner.”

The $8.9 billion deficit forecast for 2024-2025 is followed by annual deficit projections of $6.7 billion and $6.1 billion in 2026-2027, Conroy said at a news conference outlining the government’s first quarterly financial update.

Conroy said lower corporate income tax and natural resource revenues and the increased cost of fighting wildfires have had some of the largest impacts on the budget.

“I want to acknowledge the economic uncertainties,” she said. “While global inflation is showing signs of easing and we’ve seen cuts to the Bank of Canada interest rates, we know that the challenges are not over.”

Conroy said wildfire response costs are expected to total $886 million this year, more than $650 million higher than originally forecast.

Corporate income tax revenue is forecast to be $638 million lower as a result of federal government updates and natural resource revenues are down $299 million due to lower prices for natural gas, lumber and electricity, she said.

Debt-servicing costs are also forecast to be $344 million higher due to the larger debt balance, the current interest rate and accelerated borrowing to ensure services and capital projects are maintained through the province’s election period, said Conroy.

B.C.’s economic growth is expected to strengthen over the next three years, but the timing of a return to a balanced budget will fall to another minister, said Conroy, who was addressing what likely would be her last news conference as Minister of Finance.

The election is expected to be called on Sept. 21, with the vote set for Oct. 19.

“While we are a strong province, people are facing challenges,” she said. “We have never shied away from taking those challenges head on, because we want to keep British Columbians secure and help them build good lives now and for the long term. With the investments we’re making and the actions we’re taking to support people and build a stronger economy, we’ve started to turn a corner.”

Premier David Eby said before the fiscal forecast was released Tuesday that the New Democrat government remains committed to providing services and supports for people in British Columbia and cuts are not on his agenda.

Eby said people have been hurt by high interest costs and the province is facing budget pressures connected to low resource prices, high wildfire costs and struggling global economies.

The premier said that now is not the time to reduce supports and services for people.

Last month’s year-end report for the 2023-2024 budget saw the province post a budget deficit of $5.035 billion, down from the previous forecast of $5.9 billion.

Eby said he expects government financial priorities to become a major issue during the upcoming election, with the NDP pledging to continue to fund services and the B.C. Conservatives looking to make cuts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the debt would be going up to more than $129 billion. In fact, it will be almost $129 billion.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Economy

Mark Carney mum on carbon-tax advice, future in politics at Liberal retreat

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NANAIMO, B.C. – Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he’ll be advising the Liberal party to flip some the challenges posed by an increasingly divided and dangerous world into an economic opportunity for Canada.

But he won’t say what his specific advice will be on economic issues that are politically divisive in Canada, like the carbon tax.

He presented his vision for the Liberals’ economic policy at the party’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C. today, after he agreed to help the party prepare for the next election as chair of a Liberal task force on economic growth.

Carney has been touted as a possible leadership contender to replace Justin Trudeau, who has said he has tried to coax Carney into politics for years.

Carney says if the prime minister asks him to do something he will do it to the best of his ability, but won’t elaborate on whether the new adviser role could lead to him adding his name to a ballot in the next election.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she has been taking advice from Carney for years, and that his new position won’t infringe on her role.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Economy

Nova Scotia bill would kick-start offshore wind industry without approval from Ottawa

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HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government has introduced a bill that would kick-start the province’s offshore wind industry without federal approval.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says amendments within a new omnibus bill introduced today will help ensure Nova Scotia meets its goal of launching a first call for offshore wind bids next year.

The province wants to offer project licences by 2030 to develop a total of five gigawatts of power from offshore wind.

Rushton says normally the province would wait for the federal government to adopt legislation establishing a wind industry off Canada’s East Coast, but that process has been “progressing slowly.”

Federal legislation that would enable the development of offshore wind farms in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador has passed through the first and second reading in the Senate, and is currently under consideration in committee.

Rushton says the Nova Scotia bill mirrors the federal legislation and would prevent the province’s offshore wind industry from being held up in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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