70,000 aged over 65 still earn below $1,000 after 10 years?

We refer to the article “35,000 older workers earn less than $1,000″ (Sunday Times,  Aug 24).

35,000 over 65 earn less than $1,000?

It states that “The number of older workers taking home less than $1,000 a month has doubled to nearly 35,000 over the past decade …

That number has outpaced the natural ageing of the population, which had slightly more than 400,000 residents aged 65 and above last year, up 60 per cent from around 250,000 a decade earlier”

More low-income over 65 now compared to 10 years ago?

- Since the number earning less than $1,000 doubled (100% increase) against a 60% increase in the number of over 65 residents – clearly there are more low-income workers now, compared to 10 years ago.

$1,000 after inflation is $1,310?

As inflation for the last 10 years was about 31% – the equivalent of $1,000 10 years ago is about $1,310 today.

So, we should be asking how many over 65 workers are earning less than $1,310, instead of just $1,000?

Well, what can we expect from a media that is ranked 150th for press freedom.

4 times increase in low-income over 65 against 60% increase in elderly residents?

Perhaps the number earning less than $1,310 may be about 70,000, as there are over 100,000 workers aged 65 and above.

No real pay increase in 10 years?

But then, even if we know the exact number – all these workers would have had no real pay increase in the last 10 years.

After Workfare – still 15% pay decrease last 10 years?

Even if we include the $350 a quarter in cash that a worker aged 65 who earns $1,000 gets under Workfare – it means that the monthly would only have increased to $1,117 – a real decrease in pay of about 15% in the last 10 years.