On the Brink: Ontario retirees forced to cut household beliefs over food prices 

This is a reboot of a Global News set called’ On the Brink,’ which profiles people who are struggling with the rising cost of living. In this narrative, an Ontario home speaks about how soaring prices are altering their traditions. Sharon McArthur loves to make, but she misses being able to create a cooked meal for her community. The 74-year-old Brooke-Alvinston, Ont., girl said she and her 73-year-old father, Wayne Gattinger, used to host dinner once or twice a year. But with the current price of shopping, that family history has become a thing of the past. ” It’s too cost-prohibitive now, and our family understands that”, McArthur said, adding their extended family is in the same boat. ” They don’t invite us over there like they used to because it’s hard enough for them “.A comfortable retirement and being close to family was always the goal for the couple. In 2021, they began to lay the groundwork for that attitude when they moved to Brooke-Alvinston — a municipality roughly an hour outside of London, Ont. After working their entire adult lives, they wanted to settle down and get closer to their kids and six children. McArthur retired at 67 after encountering some health issues, and Gattinger stopped working at 72 when his company closed. Over the last four decades, they say elements like shopping and oil have been killing their pension funds, and the two are running out of ways to save money. ” We both had saved for our retirement … but … who may bill for charges doubling, tripling and quadrupling”? McArthur said. ” We thought we were being responsible and preparing for the future, but who can prepare for this” ?The couple lives off roughly$ 2, 800 a month, and$ 600 of that covers a monthly mortgage payment. Toss in their payments, and McArthur said she feels like there is little left at the end of the month. ” We have cut every charge we probably can”, she said, adding that they limited their home’s heat in the winter and got rid of their next car. While McArthur said there are some things they can go without, one of the hardest issues is not having enough money to get their children Christmas and birthday gifts. ” The scariest part is a time from today, our mortgage will come up for renewal. We’re currently only paying two per cent, and if rates ( go ) up ( another ) two per cent, that’s going to increase our mortgage payment by at least$ 300 a month”, she said. ” We could end up poor, and it’s a genuine concern “.A recent surveys from CIBC shows that about 66 per cent of Canadians are changing their pension plans given existing financial problems. More than 70 per cent of those polled said they anticipate having to work during their retirement, either through a phased or semi-retired strategy, with some working well past the pension age of 65. One of McArthur and Gattinger’s most excessive costs are shopping. ” We never get out of the grocery store under over$ 100, and our incomes are thus low”, McArthur said. McArthur pride herself on cooking all their meals from damage, but even then, she said it’s becoming difficult to obtain nutritional foods. To help expand dishes, they’re relying on cheeseburger meat, wheat and oatmeal. They’re even leaning on their local food banks to get by. ” Never in my life did I see myself having to access a meal banks. … I generally gave to the meal bank, and now I’m a recipient”, McArthur said. ” We only go]to the food bank ] when we feel that we need it because it’s not fair. I know how to make foods expand, but in the summer, we go weekly to get new produce”.The few is not alone. While not the majority of people, Food Banks Canada reports that the number of individuals 65 and older entering food banks in Canada has increased tremendously compared to before the pandemic. Food banks sessions have nearly doubled in the last five years, with the proportion of elderly increasing from 6.8 per cent of all customers in 2019 to 7.7 per cent. The firm says that clients who are seniors, particularly one seniors, battle with fixed incomes that can’t keep up with fast rising food, cover and utility costs. As inflation persists, Moshe Lander, an economics professor at Concordia University, said seniors on fixed incomes struggle because their income does not grow at the same rate as those who are employed. He argues that with more people retiring and life expectancy increasing, the government needs to push back the retirement age to collect from the Canada Pension Plan. ” Something’s got to give at some point”, Lander said. ” If you’re going to keep the retirement age at 65 and you’re going to make the same payments to the retirees or adjust them for cost-of-living adjustments, then you have no choice but to increase the taxes on existing workers… and at what point then do you tax them so hard that they say,’ You know what, I don’t want to work either. ‘”McArthur and Gattinger are calling for an increase in the amount they receive from the Canadian Pension Plan. ” The cost of living has gone up, and everybody gets a raise, but seniors don’t get a raise”, Gattinger said. ” They don’t give us anything” .However, they are trying to stay optimistic. ” We’re thankful for what we have today, and we’ll take each day as it comes”, McArthur said. — With files from Sean Previl and Kyle BenningIf you have a story about the cost of living you would like to tell please email us bellow.