SEC-S17W4: the effects of economic hardships on families

Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying this season of engagement challenge. It is about the effects of economic hardships on families.

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Feel free to tell us what you and your family have gone through due to the hardships occasioned by the current economic situations in your country and how the family earnings are no longer covering the family budgets or expenses. What have you done to help, or how are you all coping with it? What adjustments have you and your family made to be able to cope?

The inflation rate in India is more than 5%, and therefore the cost of living in India has increased without much increase in salary or other sources of income for the majority of the people in our country. The hardships posed by the economic crisis have influenced the lifestyle of the majority of the people in our country. The fuel to the fire is added by the disproportionate distribution of wealth among a handful of people, and more than 14% of the people in India are living below the poverty line.

As for the economic condition of my family, we were first in need and fell into the middle-income group, but inflation has greatly influenced all, including us. The primary source of income for our family used to be my father's salary and also mine. However, my father has retired, so the major financial support that used to come from him has discontinued as he is on a pension now.

Furthermore, my brother is currently staying out of state, and since his salary has not started yet due to being in the probation period of his career, there has been an increase in his expenses too. Besides the increase in the cost of living, these factors have played a role in causing financial strain to our family.

We also had secondary income sources like fruit orchards that used to support us, but in the past few years, the condition of our fruit orchards has declined, and they are no longer contributing.

As of now, the primary sources of income are my salary and my father's pension. Although I am married with a daughter and a wife, I have to support them, as well as my joint family, including my parents and brother. I also have to cover expenses for my day-to-day travel and have kept a driver for my car.

We are fortunate enough not to have suffered very much, but yes, there has been a decrease in our standard of living. We have to maintain our house as we are planning to get my brother married this year or next year. Keeping the current economic condition and inflation in view, it's getting difficult for us to maintain and improve our house. Moreover, my brother's car is almost 10 years old now, and he has been planning to get a new one, but he's waiting for his salary to start so that he can afford it. My car is also 5 years old, and I've been planning to upgrade it to a new one, but that's also getting difficult for me.

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As my father has retired from government service, we are planning to send them on a pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the fundamental principles of our religion. To send both my parents for the pilgrimage, it would almost cost me 8 lakh Indian rupees, and my current financial condition does not allow me to afford it, so I couldn't send them for this program. To fulfill their desire, we had to make an adjustment by planning for a pilgrimage to Mecca as Umrah, which would cost only 3 lakh rupees for both of them, and hopefully, I'll be able to execute this plan soon.

I wanted to enroll my wife for a PhD as she has already completed her masters, but the expenses of doing a PhD in our state are more than 500,000 rupees. To keep her busy with studies, I admitted her to a diploma in pharmacy in a non-attendance mode, which cost me about 2 lakh rupees instead of the 5 lakh that was needed for a PhD. After completing her degree, she would get a medical license for a drug store, which would, in turn, act as financial support for her and for our family too.

The current financial condition has not only decreased our standard of living but has also hampered some basic needs like the study security of my wife and the spiritual journey of my parents. My brother and I are not able to upgrade our cars. Therefore, we have come up with some adjustments as discussed above.

In conclusion, I consider my fortune to not have severely suffered because of the current inflation and financial condition of our country, but yes, at my own level, I too feel at a disadvantage because I am not able to enjoy my life to the fullest and also not able to provide the wished-for life for my family.

Thank you.