A survey by the Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly reported a 54.37% increase in the cost of living between April and October. Food, medicine and housing account for two-thirds of the expenses.
The increase in the inflation and the loss of purchasing power of the population’s income hits the most vulnerable sectors hard, including retirees, whose The basic basket of wages has already reached $912,584, in a context in which the Government decided to veto an increase by law and a new formula for calculating wages. Between April and October, the cost of living for older adults increased by 54.37%.
A survey conducted by the Ombudsman for the Elderly exposed the fragile condition in which millions of people live Retirees and pensioners in the country, as a result of the continuous increase in the prices of food, of the medicines and the expenses of dwelling, among other segments analyzed.
In a context in which four and a half million retirees receive a minimum of $234,540.23 (plus a bonus of $70,000), the basic basket for an older adult was located at $912,584, three times more than the lowest income. In addition, it represents more than four times what the beneficiaries of the Universal Pension for Older Adults receive. ($187,632) plus the bonus).
What does a retiree need to cover his monthly expenses?
Spending on Food represented 26% of the total basic basket ($236,873), followed by Dwelling with 22% ($198,000) and Medicines, with 16% ($145,268). In Cleaning, Senior citizens spend an average of 11% ($101,443), while it must allocate $83,000 for Services, $58,000 for Recreation, $55,000 in Transport and $35,000 in Outfit.
- Food $ 236,873
- Cleaning $ 101,443
- Medications $ 145,268
- Dwelling $ 198,000
- Transport $ 55,000
- Outfit $ 35,000
- Recreation $ 58,000
- Services $ 83,000
- Total: $ 912,584
basic basket for retirees in October.jpg
“A history repeating itself. New data from the Basic Basket of the Retirees ratify the situation of precariousness and misery “in which the sector is sinking more and more,” denounced the organization led by the Ombudsman for the Elderly, Eugene Semino.
He also criticised the payment of bonuses to try to “mitigate” the income problem: “They are like coins thrown to a hungry people”. And he said that “they are not only useless but also counterproductive” since they are “patches that highlight the hole they want to hide.”
“It’s not that retirees are still doing badly,” he continued. Semino -, the thing is They are getting worse and there is no prospect of the situation being reversed.. There are seven million retirees, how can a country move forward if the State directly plunges more than ten percent of its population into poverty? The debt remains with them,” he concluded.
Source: Ambito
