Local seniors are struggling

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To the editor,

The New Year does not bode well for our aging population. We are writing this to you to call to your attention an issue that many seniors are now facing, or will face in the mere future. As we reach 2016, we seniors are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet due to escalating prices of the bare necessities of life. Food, rent drugs, medical insurance premiums, transportation to health care facilities for those without vehicles, home health aides and on and on. 

There are no cost-of-living adjustments to compensate for these needs as the formula that was used was based upon wage earner, not the elderly who have so many special needs. Bank interest, which formerly helped defray rising expenditures, is now miniscule. There has been talk about a rise of interest rates, but depositors will not likely feel the benefit if instituted. 

Our nest eggs are being depleted rapidly and many of us are falling from the middle class towards impoverishment. We believe this information is vital to the public at large. Not only to seniors and the families, but to all businesses that rely upon senior patronage. The inability of our seniors to make purchases has a domino effect and impacts all businesses.

Maxine Kaplowitz
Recording Secretary
Social Action Committee
Riverdale Senior Services

Maxine Kaplowitz, Riverdale Senior Services

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