Student finances are a dead horse of an issue, but the recent University of Saskatchewan tuition hike — amidst many other factors — highlights the need for a minimum wage raise in Saskatchewan.

It hasn’t been a great week of financial news for Canadians — especially those of us at the U of S. On Jan. 15, the Canadian dollar hit a 13-year low, trading at 68.74 cents American.

On a more local note, this news came on the heels of the U of S’ announcement that tuition for most colleges on campus would be increasing in fall 2016, ranging anywhere from 1.7 to five per cent. In the worst case for students studying veterinary medicine, this raise will amount to a change of about $434 annually, while arts and science students will only see an increase of $164.

While it’s rather unlikely that these new expenses will be the ones to break the bank, the hike is yet another reason to reconsider our poverty-level minimum wage in Saskatchewan. Currently, minimum wage in the province sits at $10.50 per hour. Even the most rudimentary math reveals how insufficient this is.

Assuming one worked 40 hours a week for 52 weeks with no time off, a full-time minimum wage job in Saskatchewan would net $21,840 per year before taxes.

Living wage for Saskatoon — that is to say, a wage that can actually support a reasonable standard of living with moderate expenses, not just the government-regulated minimum — has been estimated at $16.77 per hour by the organization Living Wage Canada.

This whopping difference of over $6 an hour translates to $13,041.60 per year in a full-time context.

Not many U of S students would be able to attend school full-time in addition to working another full-time job, but subtract an arts and science tuition of $5,954 per year from $21,840 and you get a further view of just how desperate the situation is.

Money is on everyone’s minds this time of year, and students — one of society’s poorest demographics — are no exception. Post-holidays, post-textbooks, post-tuition and all of us are probably feeling that tightening sensation in our pocketbooks.

Add the fact that many part-time and student jobs start off at minimum wage and it’s clear to see that this is a student’s battle as much as anyone else’s.

Minimum wage was last raised in the province on Oct. 1, 2015, and it does increase somewhat regularly. The October increase was the seventh time Saskatchewan has raised the minimum wage since 2007. You’d think we be doing pretty well.

However, this doesn’t mean that the issue of underpaid workers is actually being remedied.

Look back to the tuition raises at the U of S and consider general issues of inflation. An increase here and there of 20 or 30 cents is but a drop in the bucket when it comes to actually affording real change.

While incremental changes are the best course of action to raise minimum wage without raising the scorn of employers, 30 or so cents a year is barely helping the situation when minimum wage falls so woefully short of the living wage.

This is a sticky situation because obviously it would be a strain on small businesses, among other employers, to pony up dollars more per hour to multiple employees, but at the same time, it’s unacceptable that this province ever allowed the minimum wage to lag so far behind and become so unlivable.

In June 2015, our neighbours to the west, Alberta, announced plans for a minimum wage of $15 per hour by 2018 despite having  the lowest minimum wage in Canada at the time — tied with Saskatchewan, of course.

Fifteen dollars an hour is still a couple of years in the making and when it comes, it will still fall short of the $16.77 estimated living wage. Nonetheless, Saskatchewan could learn from such a move and realize that raising the minimum by amounts that will actually be noticed is something worth committing to.

Until we have a minimum wage we can actually live on, we as students need to keep pushing this issue.