Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Integrity of CPI questioned again
Inflation 'hitting the old hardest'
The cost of living for pensioners is rising more than 50 per cent faster than the official inflation rate, experts claimed yesterday. According to Alliance Trust, inflation for over-75s was 3.7 per cent, while for those between 65 and 75 it was 3 per cent.
Posted by uncle chris @ 11:24 AM (529 views)
4 thoughts on “Integrity of CPI questioned again”
Add a comment
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user´s views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
sebastian says:
I am a bit confused here…How do pensioners have their own inflation measure? Do they live off something different from other people?
Ah yes, all young people buy electronics on a daily basis, which makes living cheap!!
I actually thought inflation was used to measure the change in the cost of ‘living’:
“An increase in the general price level of goods and services; alternatively, a decrease in the purchasing power of the dollar.”
According to google, doesn’t that mean the above is worked out so that it should apply equally to everyone. Sure, different groups spend more on different things but if you put all these things into the basket then the resulting inflation should apply to everyone?
Surely we can now come back and say, ‘hitting the working hardest’ as petrol costs are shooting up.
Surfgatinho says:
Why don’t they just put everything into the basket of goods? I’m sure they have the resources. The only reason to you use a sample is if you do not of the resources. It seems a little odd spending time and effort juggling the items instead
Cstanhope says:
Most of these older people have paid off there mortgage so sell up and keep the change, for the rest of us it is a different story……
indiablue19 says:
The problem with being a pensioner for any period of time is that any benefits you may have accrued will never increase with the rate of inflation and your “basket” becomes more and more essentials and nothing else. So whether you have “paid off” mortgages and debts or not, the combined costs of increased costs, taxes, and medical disabilities which hopefully can be somewhat eased with technology or medicines [all of which cost money], become overwhelming. I know many on pension incomes for five or more years who are obviously suffering as council tax, petrol, and basic goods and services skyrocket. For them any luxuries are long a thing of the past and their “basket” is a very simple combination of food, medicines and taxes. It is my own belief that the average pensioner shouldn’t pay council tax. It has gone out of sight in comparison to pension benefits.
I’m not speaking of the independently wealthy, of whom there are certainly some. But, if you’ve read the stories lately, you know that many pensioners do indeed have mortgages. Some because they’ve taken loans to keep themselves for the short term, others because they’re trying to help the young with housing costs.