This group has been a major concern to COTA in recent years as we have received many reports about their day to day struggle to make ends meet. For the age pensioner living alone economies of scale are not available. It is precisely the older person living alone who will be buying the quarter or half chicken rather than the whole roast. It is very unlikely that they will be buying an uncooked chicken and roasting it for themselves. We believe there are many examples where a single older person is likely to be buying small quantities of prepared foods, such as salad from a supermarket deli, which is often more cost effective than buying all the raw ingredients to make the salad.
Some older people have limited capacity for buying fresh food and preparing it for themselves.
This especially applies to many older men living alone or as carers and people living in boarding houses, rooming houses and private hotels. Extension of self-funded retirees supplementary bonus to retirees aged 55 and over This is an important concession that COTA advocated. In the original plan the bonus was only available to people of age pension eligibility age. The original proposal set the eligibility age for this bonus at the age pension eligibility age. There is also an aged persons savings bonus for all people over 60.