CLEVELAND — A new study is revealing the impacts of inflation on Cuyahoga County's older residents, and the choices some have been faced with amid rising prices.
The study, entitled "Feeling the Pinch: Inflation's Daily Impact on Cuyahoga County's Older Adults," was commissioned by the Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services (DSAS) and presented by The Center for Community Solutions. The data in the study was collected via in-person focus groups and online survey results of more than 150 seniors in Cuyahoga County.
According to the study, 63% of the older adults said they felt "frustrated" at the rising costs of goods.
"Over 80% of older adults across Cuyahoga County have had to make some type of adjustment in their lifestyle due to rising costs of inflation," William Tarter Jr., a policy fellow at the Center for Community Solutions, said.
Tarter says the study revealed seniors prioritize housing over other necessities like food or utilities. According to the study, "food was the most common tradeoff, followed closely by transportation and medicine or medical care."
When asked to identify one specific area where seniors most felt the most financial "pinch," 46% said groceries, followed by property taxes, then utilities and gas prices.
Read the full study below:
June Ware, of Euclid, experienced this firsthand. She says she and her husband are on a fixed income, and that while she keeps a budget, she's noticed it hasn't gone as far as it once has.
"This is smaller, but it's costing more," she said of grocery store items. "We have to get less of what we usually get."
Ware added that she and her husband have cut down on buying snacks to save some money.
“Our Connection Center, which is our intake department, saw a record number of calls last year," Natasha Pietrocola, director of the Division of Senior and Adult Services, told 3News. "We hit almost 25,000 calls in 2023.”
Pietrocola claims that by 2030, almost 30% of Cuyahoga County residents will be 60 or older, and noted the importance of thinking about how to support seniors into the future.
“Now's the time to really take a very cold, hard look about how we implement things that can kind of transcend the next 10, 15 years where we continue to see this aging population grow in our community," she said.
Tarter says because of the widespread impacts of inflation, some older adults shared that they were unable to turn to family for help because relatives were also affected. He adds that senior centers, religious groups, and social workers were cited as helpful resources.
In looking to get help, more than 80% of seniors said they'd either "often" or "sometimes" waited too long on the phone when trying to reach services or appointments. Tarter hopes this study serves as a reminder, especially for policymakers, that older adults must be a priority.
Seniors can be connected with DSAS's programs and services by calling the Connection Center at (216) 420-6700.