Limited mobility, mental health issues and the absence of friends and family all contribute to isolation among seniors. In many cases, poverty also factors into the equation – especially in urban areas.
In Canada, poverty among seniors has declined over the past 40 years. According to the Conference Board of Canada, in 1971 about 37 per cent of seniors lived in poverty. Today, that number sits at just 5.9 per cent.
However, Marjorie Milloy, program co-ordinator with Reaching Out to Isolated Seniors, says elderly poverty is highest among women 75 and older who didn’t work outside the home.
Kevin Milligan, professor of economics at the University of British Columbia, says about a third of seniors receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). Seniors without pensions also receive an Old Age Security Pension (OAS).
The combination of OAS and GIS is more or less enough to get you just over the level of most levels of income poverty, or the poverty line.” Milligan says.
In urban centres such as Ottawa where the cost of living is higher, seniors could have a harder time making ends meet, making them more vulnerable to isolation.