Boomers Looking for Work

Would someone like to explain to me how people in their 50’s -- who used to be considered at the peak of their earning curve – are going to make it through their (excuse me for throwing up) “golden years”?

All I ever read and hear about is how the imminent retirement of the baby boom generation is going to bankrupt social security and the nation. Hey guys – where have you been? Most boomers didn’t have the savings to retire before the recession. Remember all that talk about needing to work into your 70’s? Now – even with the improvement in the stock market since the recession ended –it may take 10 years or more for a 401K to get back just to where it was in 2007, when the financial crisis began. And even if you actually have some cash stashed away in income-producing savings – that income has been reduced to virtually nothing as interest rates have fallen.

So today I glance at the front page of the New York Times and there it is. What so many people know already. People over 50 have been losing their jobs in droves – and aren’t likely to find new ones anytime soon.

A few of the facts quoted in the article – which you can link to from my title: an April Gallup poll found more than a third of people who haven’t yet retired plan to keep working beyond age 65. It was just 12 percent in 1995. Now look at this figure from the Labor Department: if you’re 55 or older and unemployed – it takes an average of more than 39 weeks to find a job. That’s the most of any age group – including the 20’s somethings who would presumably cost employers a lot less in wages and benefits and be more technologically skilled. And we’re just talking averages. Many older people have been collecting long term unemployment benefits for as long as 99 weeks.

So here’s my question to all you political types who seem interested in nothing but getting elected or re-elected in November. Are you ready to deal with an army of homeless 50 and 60 somethings?

Many boomers have tried hard to update their skills – often taking out loans to do so. So what will you tell them to do with those new skills – if no one will hire them? There isn’t much of a demand for writing software in homeless shelters.

It’s not such a tragedy in your 20’s and 30’s when you have to scrounge for work. I certainly had to. But I and my friends were always sure we’d make it up later – when we were older and experienced and thus more valuable to an employer. Hah! Now an entire generation is teetering on the scrap heap of life.

As I said earlier – excuse me while I throw up.