AARP Report: Middle-Aged Workers Hit Hard by Recession, Stay Unemployed Longest
Older workers really are having a harder time, and this is why opening Medicare to people 55 and older would have helped the group that was slammed so hard in this recession. But, you know, I guess they're just going to let us hang instead.
Washington, DC—Older workers endured a staggering 331% increase in unemployment over the last 10 years, a new analysis conducted by the AARP Public Policy Institute shows. This dramatic rise in older unemployed workers has resulted in declining financial and retirement security for millions of Americans who have little time to make up the losses.
[...] The new analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by AARP’s Public Policy Institute shows a dramatic 331.4% increase in the number of unemployed Americans age 55+ and over from January 2000 through December 2009. For age 65+ workers, the increase in the number of unemployed was lower, but still a massive 235%.
During this 10-year period, the number of people unemployed individuals age 55+ increased from 490,000 to 2,114,000. The number of unemployed individuals age 65+ jumped from 143,000 to 479,000.
“Many older Americans are trying to reenter the workforce or stay employed longer for a variety of reasons—for millions of older workers, there is no other choice,” said LeaMond.
On another important measure, duration of unemployment—the length of time an unemployed worker has been looking for a job—older workers also faced an incredibly difficult time.
Average duration of unemployment for workers age 55+ increased from 18.7 weeks in January, 2000 to 34.7 weeks in December, 2009—a jump of 85.6%. Over the same time period, workers age 65+ saw their situation go from bad (24.8 weeks of unemployment) to worse (32.9 weeks), an increase of 32.7%.
their situation go from bad (24.8 weeks of unemployment) to worse (32.9 weeks), an increase of 32.7%.
What they expect 65+ people who need to work to do.......hop on an ice floe and float out to sea?
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
"Don't get sick and if you do - die quick"
I did and I am on my way on the latter.
Polar Bear Chow.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
If you're over 40, you're fucked, too. I oughta know.
has had 3 job interviews in 2 years.
The corporations own our government and we are screwed. We need to ban together and take them out.
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness and it is killing America!
Again I have said over and over it goes back to Reagan. At that time most people considered Reagan's version of conservatism as radical. But Carter was a terrible president and that gave the hard-right the foot in the door. Now since this egregious philosophy has persisted so long that the status quo thinking is that people who aspire to the common good are radical. Looking back on this I would have to agree with the thinking that the Reagan victory was a coup by the wealthy.
Whether you believe in God or not the statement by Jesus that it is harder for a rich man to get into Heaven then a Camel to go through the eye of a needle is very profound.
How exactly was Carter a bad President. I bought into that when I was young, but I'm not really sure if it was true.
He was outmanuvered by Reagan when Reagan cut a back door deal with the Iranians on the hostage release. Perhaps if Reagan hadn't done that, the whole fiasco of our failed rescue attempt wouldn't even have happened.
It's Reagan who can't be vilified enough, but for some reason people love to slam Carter (perhaps it's a leftover republican mantra still stuck in their heads).
That's what I mean....I hear poeple slamming Carter's Presidency, but with no real support. It was just another RW meme. It's the same as the one that glorifies Reagan, it's not true...Reagan, it turns out in the long run, was a horrible President. But the RW never thinks about anything but immediate gratification, hence the need for all that Viagra.
endured a energy crisis while Carter was in office. He didn't create it. I remember buying gas on certain days of the week. Carter tried to move the country towards energy independance and that pretty much freaked out the right.
Carter also had nothing to do with the taking of hostages in Iran. That was a result of our meddling in Iranian affairs for decades. I'd have to check the timeline, but I'm pretty sure Reagan had already cut a deal with Iran before the failed rescue attempt.
Again, it's Reagan who should be vilified. Carter went on to actually do something for people like Habitat for Humanity. Oh, he's won the Nobel Peace Prize, but in the U.S. that doesn't mean anything.
Noting to do with Republican mantra. The real brainwashing didn't happen until Reagan got in. It was a different country back in those days. I don't know if you were aware of the situation back then but inflation was running about 12-15% a year and the feeling of disgust people were feeling about the ineptitude to deal with the hostage crisis.
Carter also had trouble leading his people. Dissatisfaction with Carter is the reason Kennedy made a run against him in the primary.
What got Carter was inflation was running somewhere like 12 to 15% a year and the Iran hostage crisis. Also, another example of what I was saying is he fired his whole cabinet at once.
But most of all people were disgusted with the Iranian hostage crisis and that was probably the opening in the door that got Reagan in.
How was the inflation Carter's fault? How is firing his cabinet bad? And I believe the minions of the future Reagan admin used back dorr deals so the hostages would not be released during Carter's term. Again, not Carter's fault. So try again. Or explain better.
I don't know that the inflation was Carter's fault but the public wasn't happy with the situation so they wanted him to solve the problem, and he didn't. So they blamed him for it.
Firing your cabinet all at once is not a good idea Carter can't do it all himself. Removing everyone at once can only cause chaos. Have you ever been employeed somewhere when the employees get pissed and walk off the job. The perception is the boss doesn't know how to handle the job.
It is very possible that Reagan made a back door deal with Iran to get the hostages out but I am only bringing these point out to say why the voters rejected Carter.
I hate Republican right-wingers but I still say that Carter was an ineffective president.
Carter didn't play the political games, and was too nice to be President. I think he could have been fairly effectual, but was working with and against a rather foul group that wanted him to fail. Again, his only fault was not playing hardball.
Paul Volcker, appointed by Carter, raised interest rates to 20% and helped curb inflation. Meanwhile, Reagan was demonizing the whole effort only to be given complete credit for everything years later. He also reappointed Volcker.
and have been unemployed since 04/04. The best I've been able to do is a few short term contract accounting and contract admin positions and some part time minimum wage stuff.
And I get a lot of the "So what's wrong with you that you can't find a position?" from potential employers. It really is quite irritating.
Is house and pet sitting gigs. Not much money in that at all. I get a lot of "over-qualified" BS. I couldn't even get work at CostCo, or even the Census (whose test I aced).
But of course, I'm unemployed becuase I WANT to be. /snark
BTW, Tom Delay can ES&D.
I forwarded that DeLay quote to a friend of mine. She's a long-time labor activist in the Northeast. She replied:
"Right. So people want to live on 30 to 50% of their regular wages, with no benefits, if they were a low to moderate earner, and as little as 10% of their wages if they were a high earner.
"The average person on UI gets about $300 a week. They must be able, available, and actively looking for work. Guess what? According to not just the job seekers, but America's employers, there are more than 6 job seekers for every job -- no matter how poorly paid, irregular-houred, unbenefited that job is.
"If every single job in the U.S., full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal, were filled tomorrow, 85% of the unemployed would still be unemployed. Of course, only about half of America's unemployed even qualify for any UI benefits in the first place. All of that information is available from DOLETA, BLS, and/or DOL."
I don't even get UI. Not for a while now. Don't ask how I subsist.
just one politician say... the unemployed are so directly because of policies that originated in Washington.
We have similar stories although I got lucky sort of. I lost my job as a government contract computer specialist in 02/04. I got a job on a Help Desk 2 months later at about 40% of what I got before. The job was like a gestapo though and after making a settlement on our house with the insurance company the house was paid off so I decided to find something else, this was in 11/04. I then worked as a customer service rep from 04/05 through 12/05 and left their because they wouldn't let me take off to visit my ailing mother. My mother died about 5 months later so then I couldn't work at all because I live in Florida and my mother's house was in Maryland and I needed to go up there to work on the estate i.e sell the house. The estate was settled in 2007 and I was suprised by the amount of assets my mother had which were divided between myself, my brother and I. Since I got enough of of the estate I didn't need to take jobs where the employer monitors you constantly which of course meant I didn't get much work but I felt since I didn't have to put up with an invasion of my privacy I am not going to do it. In the last three years I have only worked at tax time and I score academic tests given to grade schoolers.
My life experience has made me aware of the dangerous road this country is on since the road blocks for the sociopathic super wealthy have been cleared.
One statistic that will never be reported or is certainly under reported is the number of older,higher paid employees that are let go to make room for a younger, lesser paid employee. I know of a few people that this has happened to. It is perfectly legal but should not be tolerated by our society because the same thing could happen to anyone.
Circuit City found out that the public would not tolerate such actions against their employees and the same should hold true for any company that rewards management with the demise of loyal employees.
Boycotts have become innate human behavior to protect ourselves from those who wish to subjugate us to conform to their power. We need more boycotts if we want to protect our work place rights because there is no one in government that we can rely on to do it for us. We have to do it ourselves.
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
I believe wholeheartedly that age discrimination does exist, and that when anyone in this age group loses his/her job, it's really difficult to get hired. That's why I was hoping they'd extend Medicare to age 55. People in this age group are losing their healthcare just when they need it most.
Looks as if all us unemployed "lazy slobs who don't want to get a job and just want to exist on unemployment" (thank you, Hot-tub Tom Delay) are totally screwed.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
I don't even receive unemployment. So I guess I'm doubly so.
If we had universal health care in this country, then companies would not have an incentive to fire older workers so that they can keep their healthcare costs down. My husband and I run a small business and since he turned 60 our health care costs have skyrocketed.
We will not get full recovery until health care is resolved and the only way to resolve it is to have a public option.
Ever notice how irons have a setting for permanent press? I don't get it.
Steven Wright
rally today. "healthcare is hard, it's hard to understand (for some people)..."
What an ass.
The best way to provide health care for everyone is go to something like Canada has single payer. This system could deliver health care at the lowest cost. The rich hate because it will mean they will have to pay more taxes and they might but apparently having more money then the next 100 people could use for the rest of their lives is not enough. You will never convince sociopaths to work for the common good, they have no empathy.
Progressives need to get out on the street and make some noise.
T'is a no brainer , I'm 59 Y.O. , laid off almost a year ago , first time in my life that I've been unemployed or have been on any benefits . By the looks of things I am completely screwed once unemployment benefits run out . I'm not alone , I know .
Susie - you mirror a lot of frustration out here. Are they listening? It would appear not.
*
aspect of this whole appalling mess. People who should be at their peak earning power, and having raised their families, be saving for retirement. They will never get this lost time and earnings back and there is no pit in hell deep enough for the bastards who caused this.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
He said they'd get too greedy and do a 'Samson in the Temple' and bring down the financial system. He was off by a few years (thanks to the artificial pump priming of the 1st Gulf War and the Dot.Com and housing bubbles), but in the end he was right. And we're living it.
appears to be the side of a GOP elephant, and not just to a blind man.
The "six applicants per job" is low to the point of outright fiction. Hundreds apply for each job, in any place but the lowest wage employers. Businesses which gross under $350G annually are not required to pay minimum wage, and even those jobs generally have more than six applicants.
If I lose my contract totally, I plan to hit the road and grow medical marijuana, and my wild guess is that plenty of other older women with green thumbs will do the same.
Only good news in this, is that plastic surgery for the purpose of gaining employment is deductible--if you can afford it or have the credit. Hmmm...is age discrimination another AMA scam?
Growing/selling dope would be my choice if I ever find myself in your situation. If they system fails you, screw the system.
Well, now, how many of us 50-somethings have been told we're to blame for what's happened to us?!?
I am disgusted by our species' apparent need to play the blame and shame game. I am more disgusted by our species' apparent hedonism which has resulted in a monied aristocracy completely unwilling to acknowledge how their radical income inequity is destroying the lives of so many.
For those herein above who participated in the b&s regarding Carter and Reagan, bear in mind that the deregulation and redistribution of wealth began before the Corporate Megalomaniacs vilified Carter (as a pussy, or effete--read ineffectual), and installed their puppet, Mr. Reagan, who wound up dramatically exceeding their expectations, as they continued their carefully considered rape of our world.
It is all about the money; it has always been all about the money; it will always be all about the money.
My recollection of Carter is that he was a good man, totally outmaneuvered by Washington. He was serious about conservation and that set the oil companies against him; he was not a war monger and gave amnesty to draft dodgers and that screwed him with the military and the defense contractors (who are really one and the same). Inflation was already in place (anyone remember Gerald Ford's Whip Inflation Now (WIN) buttons?) and it was a humanitarian action - allowing the Shah of Iran to come to the US for medical treatment - that lead to the hostage taking in Iran. What Reagan (really, his backers, since St. Ronnie was never more than a front man) did with back door negotiations was illegal at best and probably treason, but that never mattered - it was the 1st case of IOKIYAR.
I am unemployed & underemployed for two & half years but I never accumulated credit card debt nor any debt. The IRA is cashed in in'08. I sold more than half my stock last year. So far this year I made about $700. The yuppies hate my fucking guts if & when I have an interview. Who cares what my opinon is? My last rent check will be paid about Septmeber 2010. If you have any idea or want to know what hopelessness is reply to me.
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