By Karen Poh
MISSING toilet paper at a Hobsons Bay senior citizens centre is one of several signs illustrating how the skyrocketing cost of living is cutting into pensioners’ budgets.
South Kingsville Senior Citizens Centre’s public officer Wendy Warren said that the rising cost of food and petrol, land rates, medical expenses and gas and electricity bills had hit seniors hard.
“In the community here, we’ve noticed that the toilet paper has gone missing, it seems, on the days that the senior members of the community are here,” Ms Warren said.
There had been a lot of grumbling over the federal budget, with seniors disappointed that their pensions had not been increased, she said.
“They’re asking how everything has gone up but their pensions haven’t gone up.
“How come young women with 16 babies are getting more than the ones that raised their 16 kids,” Ms Warren said.
“More than CPI, seniors also have to cover land rates, which have in the Hobsons Bay area really risen.”
Single pensioners are the most affected, Ms Warren said.
“Most of our seniors are single seniors and most of them are women.
“They want their independence, to stay in their own homes and under no circumstances are they ready mentally or physically to move into a special residential home or nursing home.
“And they’re finding the cost of having their own home is really the biggest thing,” she said.
“There are services that I think should be available but aren’t available, like mowing the lawn,” Ms Warren said.
“You used to get the boy scouts to do that type of thing for $5. Now they’ve got to have a lawn man for $30. It really is hitting hard,” she said
Seniors have cut back on recreational activities to maximise their savings, Ms Warren said.
“I’ve noticed that several seniors have dropped off going to their little bingo session here. They might come three weeks out of four – they can’t afford $1.50 for their card.
“And a lot of them have said we’re not going out for our Sunday drive now. We’re staying at home,” she said.
To cut electricity costs, many seniors have resorted to turning the heater on briefly in the morning and evenings before turning it off again, Ms Warren said.
“There’s no way their pensions are keeping up with CPI,” she said.
Local senior resident Ray Whitehead is on a carer’s pension and receives $400 a fortnight.
The 63-year-old lives with his wife and son in Newport.
“Everything goes up with the cost of living but what we get, we’ve got nothing,” Mr Whitehead said.
“It makes a lot of difference when you go to the shopping centre and supermarket.
“And the difference in the price of petrol. It’s now costing me about $65 to $70 a week to run my car.
“It’s just as well that I own my own house, or I won’t be able to survive if I was paying rent,” he said.
