Seniors are also part of the 99%
by David Atkins ("thereisnospoon")
Seniors on social security are getting their first COLA (cost of living adjustment) increase since 2009. It's not big--only 3.6%--but it can be a lifesaver for millions of Americans eking out an existence on social security checks alone. The bulk of attention on the Occupy movement has been on younger Americans saddled with unemployment and student loan debt. But seniors on social security are also part of the 99% who are struggling to get by. A few of their stories were reported today in the Ventura County Star:
Joy Freck, 76, eats a lot of peanut butter. The Thousand Oaks senior buys jumbo two-for-the-price-of-one jars at Costco and makes them last. She has to. Her entire income consists of her monthly Social Security check of $887.
The 3.6 percent raise she'll see in January will be welcome, she said, but she insists she's getting along just fine, so she'll probably save it...
It will amount to roughly $35 a month for seniors like Freck, who are living below poverty level.
Or take these people:
Aurmand also lives on Social Security but says she has an easy time of it compared with dozens in the park, whose situations are similar to Freck's. Aurmand gets $1,536 a month and said the boost in Social Security is welcome.
"We just got an increase in our space rent," Aurmand said. "This means I can pay that. I was figuring out how I was going to pay that out of my Social Security. This gave me some extra to afford medicine. My medicine just went up $10."
The price of gas, however, worries her.
"I have a 2002 car," she said. "I just hope it lasts. You limit going anyplace, and you go in groups."
Aurmand has an adult son. But Freck has no children, just a brother in Oregon.
Aurmand said more than 90 percent of the Thunderbird Oaks residents are like her — older women living alone. Those with adult children often don't see them, she said.
In one case, the extra $35 will mean a woman can buy a box of Depends so she can go out in public, Aurmand said. At this point, her incontinence keeps her housebound.
Word is that this COLA increase will the last for some time as we enter a new era of bipartisan austerity. It's incredible that a nation that can seem to afford multiple simultaneous overseas wars and tax cuts for the insanely wealthy would consider balancing its budget on the backs of these people.
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