Seniors 17x more likely to be in poverty than 20 years ago

[Nuggler]

Is there a "situation" with seniors? You mean the seniors of today whose work life spanned the fairly lucrative days of the 1950s to the 1990s? The seniors who had it really tough were the ones from the hungry 30s and W.W. 2.

There were some recessions between the 50's and 90's...........T'was not all milk and honey. Big layoffs in the 60's.............got caught in one. Did me a favour. Never did like shift work.

Ah, we soldiered on....damn we was tough.

Walked to work, uphill, both ways.

After WW2 there was lots of work...............Not that I was old enough to partake in the bonanza.

Grampa sold dust during the 30's.............made a bundle.

 

[JLM]

Seniors the next protest group?

Seniors are under siege. Many have played by the rules and worked hard, but they are under pressure on a number of fronts: bills are going up, pensions are at risk and there is a lot of uncertainty.

The government has said it will gradually raise the age of eligibility for Old Age Security to 67 from 65, starting in 2023. While it maintains Canadians are choosing to work past age 65 anyway, the numbers show that for many seniors, it is not a choice.

Seniors are a group to watch.

Voter turnout for seniors is high — about 80 per cent. The Conservative coalition majority is really founded on seniors who are concerned about economic and fiscal issues and who want stability, so when the government engages on issues that can affect their day-to-day lives it can mean trouble for a political party.

What to watch for next is the potential for an "accumulative effect" — are there any other issues that would show the Conservatives are potentially insensitive to seniors? The OAS issue has put seniors on notice to scrutinize the government more closely.

This week's number reveals that financial security for seniors is a growing issue that all of the parties are going to have to deal with, and it reveals a "silent angry mob" that may respresent the next flashpoint for protest.

Seniors are 17 times more likely to live in poverty now than 20 years ago.
The source: Current State of Canadian Family Finances, March 2012, Vanier Institute of the Family

Seniors the next protest group? - Politics - CBC News

The first thing I would question is the definition of "poverty" today as opposed to the definition 20 years ago. I'm a senior who some could construe as being close to the poverty line.......................but that is mainly due to assets of my own choice that I've accumulated..............as a person who has observed the situation for over 60 years, in my part of the world seniors have much more today than at any time in the past.

There were some recessions between the 50's and 90's...........T'was not all milk and honey. Big layoffs in the 60's.............got caught in one. Did me a favour. Never did like shift work.

Ah, we soldiered on....damn we was tough.

Walked to work, uphill, both ways.

After WW2 there was lots of work...............Not that I was old enough to partake in the bonanza.

Grampa sold dust during the 30's.............made a bundle.

Yeah, there were a few minor downturns..........1983 being fairly memorable, but MOST continued working through it.

 

[mentalfloss]

After sifting through the report, they actually use the term insolvency instead of poverty.

The highest insolvency and bankruptcy rate increase is among Canadians 65+
The insolvency rate for those aged 55–64 and 65+ has been on a consistent upward trend over the
last two decades. The rate of insolvencies among 55–64 year olds jumped by almost 600% over
the period while the rate for those aged 65+ soared by 1747%. Seniors were 17 times more likely to
become insolvent in 2010 than they were in 1990.

 

[petros]

No debt is the key to retirement? Who knew?

 

[JLM]

After sifting through the report, they actually use the term insolvency instead of poverty.

Huge difference- the insolvent can often sell assets!

No debt is the key to retirement? Who knew?

That's where I was 13 years ago..................no more!

 

[Cabbagesandking]

It is curious to see how deep the myths have reached into the psyche of the present. Boomers are those born in the few years after 1946 and it was not really much of a boom in birth rates. They are, though, the generation that, just as they were reaching peal earning years in the late 20s or early thirty's, suffered through the most severe recession since the Great one. That was around 1981. Then they were hit ten years later with another almost as severe.

The Boomer generation is the generation that has experienced the unemployment rates, and structural unemployment at that for most of their working lives. It is the generation that, early in its career, experienced declining real incomes for most and watched the fruits of their labour being gradually transferred to the higher brackets. It is the generation that, in Ted Heath's words, experienced "the ugly face of Capitalism."

It is the generation that was forced to work longer hours for the same remuneration and to turn to two income families with fewer children - and delayed parenthood - in order to make the life they are supposed to have been pampered in.

The Boomer generation that saw the development of the highest rates of poverty since the Depression and saw governments piously pledge to end poverty while continuing the transfer of wealth and increasing the rate of real poverty.

Unfortunately, it is also the generation that swallowed the Right Wing mantras that brought Reagan, Thatcher, Mulroney, and later Bush, Cameron and Harper.

It could be said that it is the suthor of its own misfortune except that it is the generation that has had to work too hard and too long to be able to engage in political activity and education.

 

[mentalfloss]

Huge difference- the insolvent can often sell assets!

Insolvency means you cannot pay off a debt, regardless of what action you take.

It is the generation that was forced to work longer hours for the same remuneration and to turn to two income families with fewer children - and delayed parenthood - in order to make the life they are supposed to have been pampered in.

That's true.

It is expected now that both parents need to work just to pay off the mortgage.

 

[petros]

Socialism ain't cheap.

 

[EagleSmack]

I'm early Gen X. Do you hear me bitching about lacking anything?

Gen Xers Rule!

We were the first to tell Baby Boomers...

"Dude... you're old!"

 

[mentalfloss]

No debt is the key to retirement? Who knew?

17x less than before.

 

[JLM]

It is expected now that both parents need to work just to pay off the mortgage.

Yep, no doubt it's a self fulfilling prophesy! :smile:

 

[Cliffy]

17x less than before.

I wonder if this had anything to do with the fact that a pile of them lost their shirts in the stock market crash of 2008?

 

[JLM]

I wonder if this had anything to do with the fact that a pile of them lost their shirts in the stock market crash of 2008?

Greed will do that to you!

I wonder if this had anything to do with the fact that a pile of them lost their shirts in the stock market crash of 2008?

And that would mainly be due to poor financial planning..................you don't put all your eggs in one basket (equities), you have a good portion in fixed income so you can buy equities after they crash, then when they go up you replace the funds you took out of fixed income, for the next crash.