题目选项分析

Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

Concerned about the financial well-being of its elderly citizens, the government of Runagia decided two years ago to increase by 20 percent the government-provided pension paid to all Runagians over 65. Inflation in the intervening period has been negligible, and the increase has been duly received by all eligible Runagians. Nevertheless, many of them are no better off financially than they were before the increase, in large part because __________.

【选项】the pension was increased when the number of elderly Runagians below the poverty level reached an all-time high