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Vancouver senior Jagjit Mann has a difficult time making ends meet.

The 78-year-old Mann and her 89-year-old husband live on $2,100 a month in pension cheques, which she said isn’t nearly enough to pay for essentials, including rent, groceries, phone, clothing and dental care.

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“It’s not enough,” said Mann, who, according to a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released Thursday, is among a growing number of seniors living close to the poverty line. “My husband’s in the hospital and unable to stand or get up and we need help from the nurses and staff. It (our income) is very tight.”

The CCPA report concluded that seniors’ poverty rose from a low of 2.2 per cent in 1996 to 12.7 per cent in 2014 (the most recent year data is available) — and that many more seniors have incomes just above the poverty line.

It concluded that a total of 96,000 seniors were living in poverty in 2014.