The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Making do with a single income

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Making do with a single income

Ramya Kannan

There’s just not enough money to go round with the double-digit inflation these days

Photo: N. Sridharan

leisure time A family at the beach. This may be one of the few affordable options left for the middle class.

A single income is never enough, especially when prices are soaring. A single income means cutting corners, agonising over every penny spent and looking at savings being wiped out.

It can’t be easy living on a single income in a city like Chennai, which was rated by the Hong Kong based ECA International as the 30th most expensive city in Asia.

For single income families in Chennai, it’s a difficult time. Prices have risen across the board — petrol, rent, rice, vegetables, oil, and even school fees. Which in essence, means that single income families now find the money is just not enough.

Take Veeraraghavan, who works as a clerk with the government. “With my salary of Rs. 6,000, per month, I cannot save,” says Veeraraghavan. He manages a family of four with his income. “We spend almost Rs. 1,000 on groceries. Before it used to be Rs. 500,” he says. “Gas cylinder prices have gone up. The only way I can save is to reduce my expenditure. Say, instead of 1 litre of milk, we manage with half,” he says. The family is eagerly awaiting the hike promised in the Sixth Pay Commission.

For Karthikeyan Vaitheeswaran, a professional with a development organisation, inflation has pinched most in the form of rentals. “When we moved to Ashok Nagar, the landlord assured us that he would not increase the rent for three years,” he recalls. But the Rs. 7,800 rental was increased to Rs 13,000 in the last couple of months. “I had to negotiate with my owner and bring the rental down to Rs. 10,000,” he says. Cutting down on branded clothes, holidays and watching movies in theatres are amongst the luxuries the Vaitheeswarans have axed in the recent past.

IT and ITES sectors

The situation is not very different even for those in the so-called “Sunrise industries” — IT and ITES. For instance, take S.V. Chalapathy, an IT employee who shunts between Bangalore where his clients are based and Chennai, where his family lives. Already feeling the pinch of running two establishments with a single income, Mr. Chalapathy says inflation has almost doubled expenses.

“I most often end up borrowing loans or using credit cards for emergency situations like medical expenses and paying school fees. I repay the loans with my annual bonus,” he says. He has used up a considerable amount of his savings to meet expenses.

Among the families that made the choice long ago of having a single income, some regret the decision in view of the inflation. R.Kalai, who works as a driver says, “When we were married, we decided that my wife would stay at home and be of assistance to my aged parents and later, look after the kids. Now we realise that was not a wise decision,” he says. His wife Shanti says she was trained in typewriting and short hand and could have continued her job as a secretary in a private firm. “Today, that would have helped us a lot — even if to give our two children a better education,” she rues.

No choice

For others, there is no choice. L. Jayanthi works as a cook in a couple of houses to take care of herself and her two children. She has just been through an acrimonious divorce and is getting used to having only one income to run things. “I have already spent too much money on the court proceedings. Now, the income I earn from two houses is keeping me going, but I have had to put my daughter in a hostel, with the help of some philanthropists, in order to give her an education. At a time I only buy vegetables for Rs.10. It is not enough, but it is all we can afford now.”

S. Kala, whose husband died in 2002, is in a similar situation. “I can’t repair my house. It leaks during rains. But, after spending for daily expenses, there is no money left,” says Kala, who stays in Thoraipakkam. She has been taking care of her two sons by working as a helper in hospitals and without any assistance from the extended family. “I do night shifts to make some extra money. But, with everything from groceries to medicines going up, it is difficult to make ends meet,” she says.

R. Selvi, who works as domestic help at two homes in Nungambakkam, has three school-going children and her ailing mother living with her. “My husband left us a year ago and since then, I have been struggling. I earn Rs. Rs. 1,200 every month. If one of the children fall ill, I have to borrow from my employer,” she says.

The family of V. Sathyamoorthy also subsists on a single income, derived from small farm holdings. A second income was never an option for them. “It is our duty to earn for the family.” But it has not been easy, he admits. “Thankfully, we are living in the house my father built.” Mr. Sathyamoorthy adds that the returns from the fields are very low. To manage with his family of five, including wife, two children and his mother, is extremely difficult. “I pledge my wife’s jewels and take loans. What else can we do? We have to subsist somehow.”

(With contributions from Liffy Thomas, Meera Srinivasan, Sruthi Krishnan and K. Lakshmi)

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