(copy & paste, then answer each if it's easier for you).
1. When (what year) were the first computations of the actual costs of living made and how were they made?
i.e., back then, did actual housing /Â food / transportation / clothing / education and medical costs get added together to come up with the amount of monthly income and health benefit costs that a recipient of SSI or social security would receive?
so, if rent/mortgage was $55 a month, and food costs were $100 a month, and car + public transportation costs as one unit were $65 a month, and education costs including fees and books was $25 a month, and then actual medical costs were used at "x" dollars a month (since SSI recipients are too sick to work & usually, the retired are too worn out and tired in old age to carry a job) as a changing cost, equaling a total monthly outlay of $245/month, was $245 paid to the individual who was on SSI or retired?
or, for instance, was 80% of $245 paid to the disabled individual? Where was he to make up the difference? What did the government assume was to be his source of the other 20%?
2. As living costs increased past the first year (what was that year?) they were established as actual (and probably, based on what one person spent opposed to what a family of 6 spent as opposed to the same number of people in a family state by state) costs of living again, to then increase the SSI/SS monthly payment?
i heard that costs of living:
a. Do not… (more) …
Added (1). (a) cont.: do NOT include rises in the cost of food or transportation.
true? Haven't you been watching meteoric rises in your weekly grocery store bills? That makes food stamps, not adjusted upwards until a year goes by, not enough to feed you and your family.
is it true that transportation costs are not included in the annual COLA computations? Well, they SHOULD be!
if neither of the above is considered, it means that if you don't eat, or go anywhere, then COLA is realistic & accurate.
Read more: Why are SSI & social security payments are So UNREALISTICLY LOW?
