When I read this article in the New York Times about the problems of those who are over 50 and unemployed, several thoughts occurred to me. The first was that the article is misleading about the scope of the problem, as you can see by examining this graph. The rate of unemployment as a percentage of those in the age cohort is actually significantly lower for those over fifty than it is, say, for those under 30. LIFO.
However, I also noticed that the unemployment rate among those over 50 is higher than it frequently is during an economic downturn. Since it’s been an observed phenomenon that those who are over 50 and unemployed tend to be unemployed longer I couldn’t help but wonder if that was contributing to the large number of people remaining unemployed during the Great Recession.
It does make some sense. Getting a degree or another degree is unconscionably expensive these days and people under thirty have a much, much longer period over which to amortize the expenses of education than someone over 50 does. It’s a lot harder to justify for someone over 50. One a side note I know of a woman who resigned from a tenured teaching position to go to law school. After graduating from law school and passing the bar she was unable to get a job as a lawyer and is now working as a teachers assistant (a non-tenured position) in the same district where she used to have tenure.
And someone over 50 is less likely to move in with their parents than someone under 30. It’s more the other way around.
The article left me with many other questions. Did the woman highlighted in the article turn down a job in Chicago when Boeing moved from Seattle? How much of her unemployment is just betting wrong? The article also didn’t mention her health status. Based on the picture in the article I wouldn’t be surprised if the woman didn’t have some significant health problems which may be contributing to her protracted unemployment.
Which shows the importance of healthcare reform in resolving the problems with our economy. Oh, wait. We’ve already had healthcare reform.
It may also bear mentioning that Seattle has the lowest rate of new business formation of any major city in the country.
I assume housing issues have significantly reduced mobility in this age group. Owning her home, as this lady does, would be a source of security in retirement.
That her husband had built their house raised another red flag for me. It’s possible they live in an unincorporated area and that although they can live in their house they can’t sell it (particularly in today’s market).
What we are witnessing is here is the lack of the social system to deal with the outcomes of automation and the side effect of medical advancements in a capitalist society that has no plans for compassion or human worth aside value generated from work.
I am 55 and unemployed and have been since Oct 2014. I was just notified by Unemployment all of my benefits have been spent. I live alone in a rental. I have been on job interviews which I thought went very well. Unfortunately I am not hearing back from these potential employers. I believe companies today do not want older workers. For whatever reason we seem to have lost our usefulness and whatever resources we have. Interviewers of course cannot come out and say the job will not be offered to you because of your age but that is exactly what is happening. If it were not for the fact that this is my life I would suspect this was actually a movie. How sad is that?