It's poor sick old people paying for the bankers

New York City's Department for the Ageing, which runs more than 300 community centres for ageing residents and provides services such as food delivery to the homebound, affordable housing and heating subsidies, has cut its 2009 budget by $4 million and faces another proposed cut, of $9.5 million, in 2010. New York state also is proposing cuts in health care and services for the elderly as part of a drive to close a $13 billion 2009 budget gap. Among the proposals is a cut in the state contribution to the Federal Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, for elderly, blind or disabled people with little or no other income.

"We are outraged that the government, which has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out financial institutions -- and they in turn have given $18 billion as bonuses to their top executives -- has no funds to support vital services for their senior citizens," said New York City head of the State Wide Senior Action Council. " We are of a generation that fought in the sixties," she said. "We're out there doing it again."

City figures show that in 2006, one-fifth of New Yorkers age 65 and older lived in poverty, twice the national average. Advocacy groups say by now it is closer to one-third, and New York is second only to Detroit among major U.S. cities in its rate of poverty among the elderly. Minorities tend to fare worst, with 30 percent of Hispanic, 29 percent of Asian and 20 percent of elderly blacks in poverty compared with 13 percent of elderly whites in New York City.

old and in debt

After a lifetine of labour and drudgery what do we hve to look forward in thetwilight of our years - more debt .

A study of over 60s who sought help from CAS found debt levels had risen to £17,767 since 2004, but more than a quarter had a debt of over £25,000. The report, Growing Old Together: Older CAB Clients and Debt, claimed that average debt levels for this group were 29 times their monthly income.

The research found that household bills, such as council tax and utility bills, created the most anxiety for older people and that they were using credit to pay them

Worse to come 2

And further to the previous story, another report describes how pensioners have seen the cost of the goods and services they use soar by more than a third during the past 10 years, research has showed.The rate at which the cost of living for pensioners is rising outstrips increases in Retail Price Inflation, which has risen by 32% during the past decade compared with a 36% jump in inflation experienced by pensioners.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Clerical Medical, said:

"The average cost of living facing pensioners has risen by more than one third over the past decade.The cost of living for pensioners has increased by more than that for all households during the period, particularly in the last five years."

Cold Capitalism for Young and Old

Consumers are being warned by energy broker Catalyst Commercial Services that heating prices are set to rise by 10 per cent in early 2008 - which could push the average household energy bill above the £1,000-a year-mark.
According to the National Energy Action (NEA) charity, for every 1 per cent rise in energy prices, a further 40,000 households are forced into fuel poverty – defined as the need to spend more than 10 per cent of household income on electricity and gas. If the NEA figures are right, up to 400,000 more households could become "fuel poor" in the new year.

"In the last year, wholesale gas prices have fallen by 50 per cent, and while the industry enjoyed the respite, it was in no hurry to share the benefits with consumers," Mr Asher of the consumer group Energywatch explains. "Suppliers waited until spring this year to pass on miserly reductions to their customers..."

"While price increases are passed on rapidly, there is evidence that any price reductions take much longer to filter through to households," says NEA chief executive Jenny Saunders

Office for National Statistics show 23,900 people died last winter as a result of the cold weather, of whom 22,300 were older people as we reported here.

"Many pensioners feel they need to cut back on their heating to reduce their bill, yet this could be putting their health at risk," says Gordon Lishman, director-general of the Age Concern charity. "With fuel costs 60 per cent higher than four years ago, it is no wonder that many pensioners worry about paying expensive bills. But they shouldn't have to worry about health versus wealth."

NEA research shows how, in England, the number of dependent children in fuel poor homes has risen from 220,000 in 2003 to 750,000 last year. This increase, coupled with news of rising fuel costs later this year, will increase the suffering for poor children across the UK.

Living in cold, damp homes can have a significant impact on children and their families:
It can increase the risk of asthma, a rapidly growing problem among children in particular, with approximately 1.1 million children in the UK, currently receiving treatment for the condition. Respiratory illnesses are almost three times more widespread than any other long-term childhood disease in the UK.
It can affect children’s health, increasing the risk of common ailments like colds and flu, and respiratory infections such as bronchitis, as well as making them more vulnerable to allergies.
It can affect children’s educational attainment, with children finding it difficult to complete homework in homes where only one room may be adequately heated and more liable to miss school due to cold-related illnesses.
It can increase feelings of social exclusion, with children often too embarrassed to invite friends back to a cold home.

Saunders, NEA Chief Executive, said: “For millions of families and individuals, winter brings poor health, isolation, debt and worry..."

Pensions - Inadequate Beyond Question

The UK's state pension system has been named as the worst in the European Union for the second year running in a survey .

British pensioners receive a pension equivalent to just 17% of average earnings, the lowest level in Europe, and well below the average of 57%.

The "inadequacy" of the UK's state system is "beyond question".

The lowest earners in the UK achieved an income in retirement which approached the level provided by other countries. This is because they qualify for extra means-tested help from the government. However, when all the criteria were taken into account, the UK was placed fifth in a list

Old and Cold

2.5 million of elderly people spend their winters in one room to reduce heating bills .

2 million older Britons wear outdoor clothes indoors.

2.2 million turned off their central heating .

1 million cut back on their food shopping, to save cash.

Preventable winter illnesses claim the lives of 25,000 senior citizens each year

Anna Pearson, spokeswoman for the British Gas Help the Aged Partnership, said: "The government is literally gambling with people's lives."

The Bankrupt System

Research based on a study of 1,250 bankrupts in England and Wales found the proportion of pensioners going bankrupt has more than doubled in five years . Of bankruptcies in England and Wales during 2007, 7% involved retired people - up from 3% in 2002 . This meant 7,900 pensioners were declared bankrupt over the past year, compared to 900 five years previously.

Researchers warned that the figures are likely to get even higher, as increased life expectancy and rises in the price of food and fuel put a greater strain on the limited savings of many pensioners.

Keith Stevens, insolvency partner at Wilkins Kennedy, said: "More and more pensioners are going bankrupt as they struggle to repay debts when their pension is their sole source of income. "

Senior citizens could be missing out on money to which they are entitled because of the complexity of the government's pension credits system

Older people unused to being offered credit "may take on unmanageable levels of debt".

The problem might be worst in rural areas. That could be because of pensioners not being able to rely on free public transport, and fewer opportunities for part time work.

Malnourished old folk

A major survey is to try to establish how many people are malnourished when they enter hospitals and care homes. The three-day investigation by nutrition charity Bapen - assessing more than 500 institutions across the UK .

Based on studies carried out 10 years ago, an estimated 30% of patients in hospitals and care homes are clinically malnourished - a total of 3m people.

Charities such as Age Concern complain malnutrition remains prevalent .

As many as 10% of people aged over 65 are malnourished. That figure rises to 60% when it comes to elderly people in hospital.

"Weight loss and poor nutritional state is not a normal part of aging. And if it's happening we ought to address it and treat it." - The director of nutrition at King's College hospital , Rick Wilson said

Old and out of the way

Just how society treats our elderly is becoming cruelly more and more apparent . We had this report , a 108 year old woman having to wait a year and half for a hearing aid to improve the quality of her short remaining life and now we read about this care home evicting an 103 year old woman because she is requiring too much care , or so they say , in a squabble over how much she has to pay for the nursing care . Abbeymoor's owner, Mark Sutters, told the Nottingham Evening Post that the home could not continue to "subsidise" Mrs Collins's care.

Local authority and care services minister Ivan Lewis said " I am deeply concerned at the attempt by the home owner to use Mrs Collins as a pawn in a funding dispute. Whatever the difficulties, such treatment of a 103-year-old cannot be tolerated in a modern care system which has dignity and respect for older people at its heart."

Esme Collins was told to leave after 10 years at Abbeymoor nursing home in Worksop, because its owners refused to back down in a dispute over funding her care.

Age Concern has campaigned for the closing of a legal loophole that left the pensioner without the protection of human rights legislation.
"Forcing an older person to leave their care home can have a devastating impact on their physical and emotional health. We urge the government to act quickly to give the protection of the Human Rights Act to people living in private care homes to help prevent such situations."

Socialist Courier fully sympathises with such sentiments but to be perfectly blunt , it is just one very small example of the heartless nature of a society where everything has a price , even life and everything is valued in prices , even people . Events such as this will not stop until capitalism is superceded by a truly caring , sharing society such as Socialism

The old are getting poorer

And how does Capitalism treat the old ? Read here

The cost of living for the elderly is rising at more than twice the rate of other households, research shows today. People aged between 65 and 74 found that their annual expenditure increased by about nine per cent a year between 2002 and 2006, more than double the national average of four per cent . The situation is even worse for people over 75, who saw their cost of living soar by about 10 per cent a year during the same period.

The average pensioner income was increasing by only three per cent a year.

When you get old ...

The average 60-plus-year-old owes more than £35,000 in unsecured debts, a survey shows. 63 percent of those aged 60 and over have unsecured debts -- such as credit card and loan debt . It found that the average pensioner owes £9,098 in personal loans, £7,551 in credit card debt, £3,215 in overdrafts and a further £15,616 in other unsecured debts, such as store cards and car finance schemes -- a total £35,480. Taking account of outstanding mortgage debts carried into retirement adds a further £31,000 per pensioner to the debt mountain, according to the research.
The over-70s were found to have the largest unsecured debts, at an average of more than £40,000 .

Figures from financial education charity Credit Action showed that the number of over-60s with money worries increased faster than among any other age group last year, as pensioners grapple with rising energy and council tax bills.

With monthly repayments on that of over £450 and more than 38 percent of pensioners living on £10,000 or less per year, it means that some older people are using almost half of their annual income to service their debt.

Chris Tapp, deputy director of Credit Action, said: "Retirement should be a time for some well-earned relaxation, but for all too many it is a time of financial stress. "

In The Scotsman we read A total of 51% are prepared to extend employment into their old age in order to make ends meet . Elsewhere it found that that for someone earning a median weekly wage of £447, their pension income would fall to £223 - just £9 more than the minimum wage, based on a 40-hour week.

Poverty and debt , something to look forward to when you get old .

Being poor adds years to you

A lifetime on a low wage physically ages a person eight years earlier than high earners, researchers found.

They followed more than 10,000 British civil servants aged 35 to 55, over a period of 20 years. The employees, working in 20 different departments and from all occupational grades, were surveyed five times between 1985 and 2004.

Physical health declined with age in all groups but most rapidly among those in the lowest occupational grades . For example, the average physical health of a 70-year-old high earner was similar to the physical health of a low earner around eight years younger. In mid-life, this gap was only 4.5 years. Among high earners, retirement appeared to improve their mental health and well-being. But no similar improvement was seen in the lower occupational groups.
A higher income might enable a pensioner to lead a more active social life and eat a healthier diet.

Kate Jopling of Help the Aged said: "This shows very clearly that health inequalities are not something that happen only early life or childhood...We need to improve older people's lives and make sure they have a good income in retirement..."

It is very doubtful whether capitalism will be able to achieve such aims . On the contrary , inequalities are expected to widen .

Two million pensioners (1 in every 5) are still living below the official poverty line.
Since 2002-03 the state pension has risen by 8.7%. But over the same period water charges have gone up by 12.6%, council tax by 23%, electricity by 32% and gas by 49%.
The issue of winter deaths is also still causing concern.
31 600 older people died last winter as a result of the cold. Government confirms that this is the highest figure for five years.
Over a million pensioner households are suffering fuel poverty, spending more than 10% of their income on energy bills.
A million pensioners (1 in 10) are malnourished.
3 million pensioners being unable to take part in leisure and social activities due to a lack of access to public transport.
[Figures according to The National Pensioners Convention]

NPC vice president Dot Gibson said: ‘Being older in modern Britain can mean that you feel trapped in your own home and don’t have enough money to eat or put the heating on.Even those living above the poverty line struggle to pay rising utility bills, meet the costs of care and getting out to enjoy life. The scale of inequality affects every older person in one way or another’

Old and Forgotten - and Starving

The Scotsman reports more than 750,000 pensioners risk being left to starve in British hospitals because they are not properly fed . Age Concern said elderly patients were often abandoned with nothing to eat or given the wrong kind of food. It claimed some patients were too weak to feed themselves and in other cases food was out of their reach .

Gordon Lishman, Age Concern director-general, said: "The reality for many older patients is that they are at risk of malnutrition while they are in hospital...The prevalence of malnutrition in older patients is a disgrace. Being denied basic care should not be something which is overlooked on any ward. It puts health at risk and means longer stays in hospital."

Pauline Ford at the Royal College of Nursing said: "It's unacceptable if elderly patients are not getting the help they need to eat and drink."

The Scotsman previously reported death rates from malnutrition in Scotland continue to rise, with 105 death certificates last year naming the condition as the primary or a contributing cause. But the report also noted: "Death certificates may under-state the contribution of malnutrition to mortality in Scotland and therefore provide only an approximate guide to the extent of the problem."

Earlier this year, The Scotsman revealed that councils in Scotland were spending as little as 92p per meal for elderly people living in care homes .

And a fellow socialist blogger ( well , me , actually ) drew attention to how capitalist society treat our old folk who are past their sell-by date.