Seniors Have Lost 32 Percent of Their Buying Power Since 2000
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In most years, seniors receive a small increase in their
In 2011, for the second consecutive year, seniors received no COLA. Prior to 2010, seniors had received a COLA every year since 1975, when the automatic COLA was introduced. Seniors are forecast to receive a very small COLA next year.
The following table shows how various types of expenses have changed since 2000. (Dollar cost changes are included if that data is available; otherwise, only the percent of change is stated.)
Category |
Expense |
Costin 2000 |
Costin 2011 |
PercentIncrease, 2000-2011 |
|
Housing |
Ownershipcosts |
N/A |
N/A |
32% |
|
Apartmentrental |
N/A |
N/A |
39% |
||
Homeowner's insurance(annual) |
$508.00 |
$969.00 |
91% |
||
Realestatetax(annual) |
$690.00 |
$1,275.96 |
85% |
||
Heating oil (gallon) |
$1.15 |
$3.34 |
190% |
||
Naturalgas(gallon) |
$1.01 |
$2.74 |
171% |
||
Electricity(perkwhr) |
$.08 |
$.12 |
50% |
||
Transportation |
Gas,allgrades(gallon) |
$1.53 |
$3.53 |
131% |
|
New&usedvehicles |
N/A |
N/A |
(-4%) |
||
Oilchange |
$23.11 |
$49.68 |
115% |
||
Maintenance/repair |
N/A |
N/A |
44% |
||
Medical |
Totalout-of-pocket medicalexpenses |
$1,074.50 |
$1,526.18 |
42% |
|
Prescriptiondrugs, generic,brand,special |
$623.70 |
$708.07 |
14% |
||
Dental,generalvisits |
$377.40 |
$528.61 |
40% |
||
MedicarePartB premiums(monthly) |
$45.50 |
$115.40 |
154% |
||
MedicarePartD premiums |
$25.93 |
$40.72 |
57%(since2006) |
||
Food |
10lbs.potatoes |
$2.98 |
$5.98 |
101% |
|
1lb.butter |
$2.52 |
$3.42 |
36% |
||
Milk(gallon) |
$2.78 |
$3.30 |
19% |
||
Eggs(dozen) |
$0.93 |
$1.81 |
95% |
||
Groundchuck(lb.) |
$1.90 |
$2.99 |
57% |
||
Bread,whiteloaf |
$.91 |
$1.40 |
54% |
||
1lb.coffee |
$3.54 |
$4.42 |
25% |
||
Oranges(lb.) |
$.61 |
$1.05 |
72% |
||
Recreation |
Recreation,misc. |
N/A |
N/A |
10% |
|
Communication |
Firstclasspostage |
$.33 |
$.44 |
33% |
|
Basicphoneservice, local |
$55.37 |
$68.41 |
24% |
||
Apparel |
Clothing |
N/A |
N/A |
(-8%) |
|
Other |
Personal careproducts |
N/A |
N/A |
5% |
|
Personalcareservices |
N/A |
N/A |
32% |
||
"For many years, seniors have watched helplessly as the value of their benefits has eroded. Those losses have added up, and millions of seniors – among our most vulnerable citizens – are barely able to scrape by today," said
A senior with an average
The study examined the increase in costs of 30 key items between 2000 and 2011. The items were chosen because they are typical of the costs seniors must bear. Price increases for 22 out of the 30 costs exceeded the COLA. The selected items represent eight categories, and each category was weighted (based on typical expenditure levels) in order to calculate the overall loss of buying power.
A majority of the 37 million Americans aged 65 and over who receive a
To help increase buying power,
The government does track the spending patterns of older Americans, and has done so since 1983 using the CPI for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E). By tying the annual increase in the COLA to the CPI-E, seniors would see much-needed relief in their monthly checks. For example, a senior who retired with a benefit of
With1.2millionsupporters,TheSenior
Related Links:
The Senior Citizens League Home Page
Sign Social Security Fairness Petition
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