A recent survey shows only 37 percent of Canadians still pay with pennies, and a study by Desjardins Group economists suggests that it may be time to retire the copper coin.
Last week 51 percent of people who responded to the NorthernLife.ca poll question agreed the penny is useless.
The Desjardins Group survey found older people are more likely to count their pennies and nickels than younger people. For example, one in four young people (24 percent) between the ages of 18 and 25 use nickels; this proportion grows to 75 percent for people aged 66 to 75. However, only 13.6 percent of young people use pennies to make purchases, while 55 percent of older respondents do.
According to economists, there are about 20 billion pennies in circulation, about 600 per Canadian. Between 2001 and 2005, the Canadian government has issued an average of approximately 816 million pennies per year. This would prove that consumers hoard pennies or even throw them away, rather than depositing them and putting them back into circulation.
The penny is now worth only five percent of its initial value (or 20 times less), whereas workers earn 100 times more than they did a hundred years ago when the penny was first introduced.
Based on various analyses, the economists estimate that keeping pennies in circulation when it appears people are no longer interested in receiving or using them, costs Canadians approximately $130 million per year in production, storage, transportation and various costs.
Here are what NorthernLife.ca readers say”
“ Bring back the 50-cent piece.”
“Little children love them putting them in their piggie banks, makes them feel special.”
“Australia does not have a penny and we need to follow their lead. In Australia, if you pay with credit or cheque, then you pay the exact amount to the penny. If you pay with cash, they round to the nearest five cents, and the law says that they have to round both up and down instead of always rounding up. New Zealand and France also use a penny-less system."
“Must be a slow news week.”
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