How do we get people back to work post-pandemic?

I did not do any particular research, so I cannot prove it, but I am hearing that businesses are having a hard time getting people to come back to work. I am hearing that the reason people are reluctant, is that they do not want to give up the payments the government is providing to them to get through the pandemic. The implication is, sometimes, that people became lazy while living off the government aka 'us', the taxpayers, and that nobody wants to work anymore.

Please consider this. If you make minimum wage in Saskatchewan, then the government benefits are going to let you take home 25% more than you can earn working 40 hours. Sure the government may nail you at tax time, but from a cashflow perspective, those benefits coupled with additional savings on non-mandatory related employment costs, like day care and transportation. That means that staying home may very well be a way of making those ends meet. If you've ever tried to raise a small family with just one adult working for minimum wage you know what I mean. I've been there.

The big surprise is that anyone is willing to work for minimum wage at all. Nobody lives well on minimum wage.Certain jobs do not require any particular skill, but that is still work that needs to be done and should have a value to it. A minimum wage job should pay enough that the person can pay for their basices.

But what do we do? Businesses say that if they had to pay above minimum wage, they would go under. The jobs they do provide, even if they were low paying, go with them. The government legislates it, but the coin comes out of the business pocket whenever the leadership says people deserve a higher minimum wage. Isn't minimum wage better than no wage at all? To some, no, it isn't.

If you are on an assistance program, and if you have prescriptions, or medical needs you can often get those expenses covered which is not the case if you are employed. When one of the adults in the house gets a minimum wage job, those expenses come back, and those expenses are not prorated based on income. Maybe they should be. I am certain there are solutions, let's discuss and come up with a few. For me, I can only influence my own behavior.