Most Elderly Job Seekers Since the Great Depression

As a nation, we haven't done too well on reducing poverty overall, but one point of pride has been our success in reducing elder poverty through the creation of Social Security, Medicare, and a general prioritizing of affordable housing and social services for older Americans.  Especially considering older Americans' voting power, these programs are generally considered sacrosanct, despite the best efforts of Bush & Co.

So this article from last week is particularly alarming: more Americans aged 65 and up are on the job market than at any other time since the Great Depression - and five times more elderly than just a few years ago.  Indebtedness is way up, and economic insecurity is widespread. Are we reversing one of our few anti-poverty successes of the 20th century?

A "substantial number" of older Americans are living at or near the poverty line, meaning: they're poor.  The median income was only $18k for this age group in 2008.  The financial weight of second mortgages and home equity lines, 401ks, the decline of employer-provided insurance for retirees, health issues, and being passed over for younger workers all contribute to increasing economic insecurity for many of our elders.   No surprise, age discrimination claims are also up.

The employment picture for older Americans is still better than the general population, and Medicare and Social Security do go a long way in providing for our grandparents and elderly neighbors.  But once more we see the ravaging effects of the Great Recession on a particularly vulnerable age group, and how our economic policies of the past two decades finally came together with devastating impact in the last two years.  For those of us who are still young and able-bodied and privileged, we can work our way back from any deleterious economic impacts we're facing.  For our elders - who should be thinking about retirement, their grandkids, their long-awaited travel, their full-time pursuit of cherished hobbies, maintaining their health - their window in which to bounce back from the recession is extremely small.  Looks like the sandwich generation will be more pressed than ever in the coming decades.

(Photo "The old men and his bags" by Diego_3336)