A research report released this week by National Seniors Australia shows many older people are feeling the pain, and some are really struggling.

The report is based on the ‘Cost of Living’ module in the 2023 National Seniors Social Survey (NSSS) of 5,608 Australians aged 50 and over.

More than 2,300 respondents wrote about their personal experiences with the cost-of-living crisis in the form of one or more free text comments.

Some of these revealed the extremely difficult situations older people face on a daily basis, especially when reliant on a pension, renting, and/or paying off a mortgage.

For example, a 72-year-old woman from New South Wales commented, “After everything is taken from my pension, I’m lucky if I have $60 and that is my food money for two weeks.”

Similarly, a 75-year-old woman from Queensland said, “I currently pay $740 per fortnight rent out of a single pension and finding it hard to feed myself.”

Tough choices to stay afloat

Changing food shopping and diet is a common way older people have saved money. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat have been among the items sacrificed. At the extreme end, the survey showed some people have been forced to sell major assets such as their car or even their house just to survive.

As might be expected, costs that aren’t critical to daily life but make it more liveable can be the first to go for many people.

Worryingly, some respondents are cutting general insurance to stay afloat, while others have had to cut their health insurance. This is concerning because it limits choice and makes them reliant on the stretched public health system.

A 71-year-old Queensland woman wrote, rather heartbreakingly, that she had “dropped visits to family because of increased private health insurance, had to make a choice: cuddle great grandchildren or afford medical treatment”.

Creative ways to save dollars

Older people are also strategic, finding inventive ways to avoid expenditure when belts are tightened.

One respondent described how they saved money by collecting green waste from a local greengrocer, some of which was rescued for meals and the rest used as compost for home-grown food. Others spoke of hunting for free or cheap activities or using vouchers for movies or meals.

One of the survey questions asked about managing fuel costs. Respondents shared ways they have coped with increases, including driving only when necessary, bundling trips, buying on cheap days, swapping cars for motorbikes, and even stockpiling petrol.

Hard lives on low incomes

Some survey respondents told us just how precarious their situation is, or how despondent they are about their lives. Many expressed frustration at never being able to keep up with expenses while others were dependent on younger family members to subsidise their living costs. Cost-of-living increases had tipped some older people into poverty and risk of homelessness.

A 69-year-old Queensland woman who lives in low-cost or free camping areas told us, “[I] could never be able to rent a house or flat. No health insurance. Just waited 570 days for orthopaedic appointment. Minimal food. Do not drink alcohol or smoke. Drink water and tea. Use only 1 teaspoon of tea leaves per day.”

These experiences and others told by NSSS respondents are a timely reminder that some people’s circumstances are not captured well by numbers and need highlighting in other ways.

Thank you to everyone who contributed responses to the NSSS ‘Cost of Living’ module and so generously shared their stories.

Download the report, Older People’s Responses to the Rising Cost of Living, here.

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Anthony Albanese faced a great deal of opposition to his promise to keep Scott Morrison’s promise for big tax cuts for the very rich since the day of the election that made him Prime Minister. In fact, it threatened to Cause instability within the Labor Party. The angst was just contained in last year’s national party conference in Brisbane last year.

It was clear that this festering sore wasn’t going away and threatened t destabilise the government. Opposition wasn’t only internal to the party. Opposition has been high across much of the community.

The perception has been that a generous handout to those with an income of over $200,000 a year can’t be justified, especially at a time when the average punter is doing it hard under a rising cost of living.

If delivered, this tax cut could have contributed towards the fall of the Albanese government. Consequently, political expediency called for a modification of the promise. The result is a partial retreat. Aimed at taking off the heat. It goes to show what sufficient community pressure can achieve.

True to their ambitions, the parliamentary opposition has hit back with accusations of betrayal. They themselves and those at the top end that they really represent, stand to lose out. Above all this though, is crass opportunism designed to lift their political fortunes. and this is being supported by a relentless campaign by the Murdoch media empire.

Past the political fog, the truth is that the very rich will get some reduction in the promised tax cut of around an average of $4,5OO a year on income over $200,000. They will still get around $4,500. Those in between 146,486 and 45,000 a year, the relatively well-off will get up to a maximum of $800 a year or $15 a week, which isn’t going to do much to counter the rising cost of living. Those on less than $45,000 will get about $12 a week on average.

The Albanese shift on the Stage Three tax cut is short in substance and big on public relations, designed to sell to the public that it is far more generous than it is., and to quiet the voices of dissent within the party.

Some important and relevant facts not being talked about are the momentum towards cutting government spending on important services, the continuing long run fall of the wages share of national income and rising poverty.

Tax cuts shouldn’t be the priority at this time. Far more important is to apply measures that will relieve the rising cost of living for most Australians. Reverse the rising trend in health costs. Reducing the cost to families of sending the kids to school, which has gone up substantially. A lot more can be done to make housing more affordable and to implement projects that will create new and permanent jobs. There is an urgent need to invest in a sustainable economy to counter the impact of climate change.

The loss of at least $250 billion in the original tax cut and not much less with what is being offered now, will have a significant impact on the capacity of government to deliver on these needs.

The Illusion that handouts to the wealthy will generate needed investment in the economy must be discarded by our politicians. They used to call this the trickledown effect and then neoliberalism. They don’t use the terms anymore because the application of this belief over more than 40 years has been an abject failure. Instead of generating more investment where it is needed, it has aided the withdrawal of and misallocation of investment.

Unfortunately, our political elite remains fixated on this ideology, and it’s harming our economy and society. As long as the bipartisanship on this continues, the political will to change will be absent. Only the will of the broad community can change this.

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In recent times, a lot has been said about the level of Government debt in Victoria. The forecast level of Government debt is $10.3B for the 2023-24 financial year, and that this will decrease in the next few years to gradually return to surplus.

There are loud voices decrying this debt. As expected, the voices of the opposition Liberal Party and their rural lackeys, the National Party have been shrill. The corporate media, especially the dominant Murdoch empire, makes a big deal of it. Victoria is being portrayed as some sort of economic basket case.

No surprise Murdoch and the rest of the corporate media owners have made this stance. They’d rather money constantly flow into the coffers of their big business mates, than have it spent improving our lives.

In recent years, the Andrews led ALP Government sought about undertaking major infrastructure work. The removal of level crossings, the North-East Link, the Suburban Rail Loop, the building of new woman’s health clinics at 20 hospitals, and new campuses in in the major ones are the major ones.

These are some of the ways debt gets used to improve life in Victoria. Much work is created along the way, and money spent in vital areas of benefit to all. This helps make Victoria a better place to live for not just us, but future generations.

Let’s not forget that former Victorian Liberal Premier Sir Henry Bolte used debt to oversee infrastructure schemes in his time. The Latrobe and Monash Universities, the West Gate Bridge, and Tullamarine airport. These were some examples of the same infrastructure development approach.

Bolte used state debt to fund works that would benefit future generations of Victorians, being aware that they as beneficiaries of this work, the community could bear some of the future costs. During Bolte’s time, debt as a percentage of the Victorian economy was as high as 58 percent of the state’s budget.

Hmmm. I don’t see much of this mentioned by the state opposition, or by their cheer squad in the corporate media.

Government debt is in no way analogous to household debt. Governments can borrow money at manageable rates of interest. If the expenditure leads to raising the state’s productive capacity, the means to cover the cost will be in place and can be collected through taxes on higher earnings and other means. Infrastructure development is the best type of investment to build productive capacity.

There is also the possibility of introducing more progressive taxation system. This is the rich and mega corporations pay the extra needed to provide for the needs of the majority.

The argument that debt is always bad should be consigned to history. In any case, most of our recent governments have had no problem with crating debt through handouts to private corporations. Surely, anyone can see an inconsistency here.

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