Molly Howard off mark
At a recent public input meeting, Representative Molly Howard said that we have to stop talking working class and start talking about working people. I would add seniors on Social Security to the discussion. Issues confronting us are affecting more than the working class. Yes, they are the backbone of our economy. However, many of our retirees were from the working class in this country. Social Security brings many dollars into the New Hampshire economy.
With the financial demands on seniors who, on average, live on less than $23,000 per year (many far below the average Social Security checks), the cost-of-living adjustment is far too weak to support many of our seniors. Many seniors keep working, many part-time, as Social Security is not enough money to live on. As for saving to replace that missing stool leg of the former three-legged retirement system, people cannot save enough money unless they earn better than a livable wage, as they need that income to survive.
Do not rule out the effects on retirees who have to pay hundreds of dollars a month for their Medicare and supplemental health insurance before they even think about prescriptions, food, housing and other necessary and desired costs. The working class and retirees need to be equally considered, as well as those struggling in the middle class in this economy. It is too easy to think retirees have it made after all their years of hard work. Let us not shove our Social Security recipients out of the focus.