The elderly are reportedly being hit particularly hard due to inflation. | A Koolshooter/Pexels
The elderly are reportedly being hit particularly hard due to inflation. | A Koolshooter/Pexels
Rising prices are putting a major burden on many across the nation, but the elderly are hurting in particular.
The 7.9% rise in inflation is the biggest increase in 40 years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in their consumer price index.
An estimated 56 million residents 65 and older are facing additional financial strain, The Washington Post reported. Many seniors depend on fixed incomes and their savings to pay bills, and increased costs can be an issue for extended or undetermined periods of time. The Elder Index, a cost-of-living gauge developed by the Gerontology Institute at Boston's University of Massachusetts, reported that approximately 50% of seniors who live on their own are living on less than $27,000 a year and finding it difficult.
"Any small change in circumstance — rising prices, a medical emergency — can throw an older person's budget completely out of whack," Jan Mutchler, director of the Gerontology Institute, told the Post.
On average, 4.5% of Pennsylvania's population is 65 or older, ConsumerAffairs reported.
Homelessness among seniors has been increasing quickly and is projected to increase threefold over the next 10 years, the Post reported, citing a recent study conducted by University of Pennsylvania researchers. Food banks are experiencing increased demand from retired individuals, especially from grandparents taking care of their grandchildren.
CNBC Business News Editor Rick Santelli said in a recent CNBC presentation that inflation was hitting retirees directly in their pocketbooks.
"Are the retirees going to un-retire? This is going to answer it," Santelli said while holding up a wallet during the presentation. "And the answer is yes."
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics recently reported that prices in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area have increased 1.5% over two months ending in February. This was tracked by the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U). Over the past year, the CPI-U rose 7.3%, food prices increased 8.2%, and energy prices jumped 24.4%.
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