Seniors In Poverty

 Poverty is a rise concern among all groups of people, seniors being one of the many. To some there isn’t the luxury of being retired and enjoying it, taking breaks is just not an option to some of these individuals it’s just working in the workplace until they literally can not work.
It’s been said that the 36% of seniors (over 1.6 million) who are receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) are also living in poverty. The average CPP $5,777.52, plus Old Age Security (OAS) $6,028 and GIS $4,727.96; bring the total income of single low income seniors to $16,533.48 (Williams, 2008). So basically the benefits these seniors are receiving isn’t cutting it for them.  Edgar Williams (2008) suggests these points that can help our seniors:

·         Establish a National Pharmacies Program to lower costs of medication and to equalize the availability of prescription drugs across the country for seniors.

·         Extend the CPP drop out provision to include family caregivers who leave work or reduce their hours of work to provide elder care.

·         Change labor codes to protect workers of all ages rather than the current 18 to 64.

·         Income for all seniors must be adequate to meet the real cost of living.

These are just a few points, but we mustn’t leave theses senior citizens through the cracks, everyone should deserve a break and have no stress, and these seniors shouldn’t have to worry about how they are going to manage financially.

 According to NDP member Irene Mathyssen (2011), the plight of seniors living in poverty is unnecessary and easily addressed with a targeted increase to the GIS. That is the reason why this motion is so very important. With a small investment, we can make a significant impact on the everyday lives of seniors. This is intelligent, practical and affordable. This targeted increase to the GIS would cost significantly less than the $700 million that the government gave to the G20. I agree with Mathyssen statement it’s unnecessary to see this, to see seniors living in poverty; our money should be spend wisely. I like how the NDP party is doing a lot to help these seniors get out of poverty. We in the New Democratic Party will never stop making proposals for seniors. We did in the past and we will continue in the future. We will, again and again, move motions to protect seniors, because they are our parents and grandparents, the builders of this nation (Mathyssen, 2011). Canada is a rich and privileged country. We need to support our seniors because it is the ethical thing to do and practical in terms because our seniors support the economy and their families. We depend on seniors' volunteer work. We depend on their help with child care. We depend on them to participate in the economy. They can do none of this if they are struggling in poverty (Mathyssen, 2011).  I also agree on Mathyssen points here, Canada is a rich country which should be doing more in helping its citizens get out of poverty; they have done so much for us so in return we should help them in any possible way.

 I believe people have this image of ...“they’re too old and are going to die anyway”… The truth is everyone does at some point; we shouldn’t be too quick on judgment and instead help them. If people do so and help get information across and get more resources for these folks, then we can gradual get them out of poverty.

Hannah

References:

Edgar, Williams. (2008, February 20). Poverty Among Seniors. Carp. Retrieved from http://www.carp.ca/2008/03/06/poverty-among-seniors/.

Mathyssen, Irene. (2011, June 06). Motion to End Poverty For Canada's Seniors. NDP. Retrieved from http://irenemathyssen.ndp.ca/post/motion-to-end-poverty-for-canadas-seniors.