Millions of older Australians are expected to receive one of the biggest increases to the Age Pension in almost a decade.
The Age Pension base rate is reviewed twice yearly, in March and September. In March, the rate jumped by $20.10 for singles and $15.10 for couples, the largest single increase in nine years.
The Age Pension base rate is linked to the inflation-based Consumer Price Index (CPI) and, generally, when one rises so does the other. In March, the CPI was up 2.1 per cent for the quarter and 5.1 per cent across the whole year.
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The Age Pension base rate increased accordingly to $900.80 per fortnight for singles and $1358 per fortnight for couples ($679 each).
Since then, inflation has ballooned, and the cost of living has skyrocketed. Figures aren’t yet in for the June quarter, but it is widely expected to be up between 2.8 and 4.8 per cent.
Assuming these CPI figures, analysis by The Daily Telegraph shows the Age Pension would grow by between $25.50 and 43.20 per fortnight for singles.
Ian Yates, chief executive of the Council on the Ageing, welcomed the potential increase but cautioned that people living solely on the pension would feel the economic pinch again soon because the rate increases are based on retrospective figures.
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“We are certainly looking forward to the increase, particularly as so many of the things most impacted by inflation are basic goods,” he says.
“Given indexation is six monthly, it can mean pensioners get squeezed pretty badly [by inflation].”
The official increase won’t be known until September.
Although cost-of-living pressures are being felt countrywide, rising inflation is particularly hard for pensioners to absorb.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) research shows that when inflation rises, the cost increases are more pronounced in age pensioner households.
When inflation figures were last released in March, the ABS found that costs had risen 4.9 per cent for pensioners, but only 3.8 per cent for employed Australians.
“These households were also more affected by increases in housing costs,” says Michelle Marquardt, head of price statistics at the ABS.
“They have relatively higher expenditure levels on utilities, maintenance and repair, and property rates.”
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FIRSTLY INFLATION IS CLOSER 10 %15 if you include electricity gas food petrol insurances council rates and more WHY ARE PENSIONERS EXPECTING A BIG INCREASE WHEN APPARRENTLY ONLY BECAUSE THE UNEMPLOYED GOT TWICE AS MUCH AS PENSIONERS %6 AND SINGLE PARENTS OF WHICH %92 are women get 5 times more than pensioners %15 why have these people been rewarded by the GOVT for doing nothing for the country as far as taxes go
THEY DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO ANYTHING EXCEPT THE DEBT TO AUSTRALIANS THAT WORK FOR A LIVING AND SURELY IT IS OBVIOUS SOMEOF THESE PEOPLE DELIBERATELY GET PREGNANT AND DELIBERATELY DO NOT LOOK FOR WORK
AMANDA RISHTON IS PREDUDICE TO THE AGED OBVIOUSLY