When did age discrimination start to run rampant?

I guess i was just not very aware until now. Now that I am old. Now that I don't have a job and have zero chance of finding one.

People think racism is bad - or homophobia.

Just wait until you get over 55. All races, all religions, all sexual preferences are in the same bag. No one wants you anymore. Being old is the ultimate crime, the ultimate sin against society.

I feel like I should be working full time on getting revenge.

you just didn't see it until you got there yourself.

unemployed, 2 interviews in the past 5 months. The only thing going for me, is that people think I'm about 40, when they look at me.

I have a friend who is 67 and would still like to work at something. She has been off two years now and has not had a single interview.

Part of the problem now is that everyone puts in for jobs online. They never even get a chance to talk to a person. Only people who fit the job profile exactly get contacted. There is no chance to sell yourself.

I was laid off my job in 2010. I was 71 at that time. I'm 72 now. I know there will be no one who would hire me. Fortunately, I was collecting social security along with my salary. It is sort of difficult now without that extra money. Luckily, my living expenses are low. I live in a mobile home that is paid for, and my car is paid also, And I have some savings, which I am trying not to touch unless there is an major emergency.

I got forced out at about 58.

I pet sit and that helps but it's not enough.

Does anyone have any good ideas for starting a real, live movement? Not like AARP. One with some punch.

Like maybe thousands of letters going out to representatives?

I don't know what exactly exactly. But there have to be a whole lot of us in this same fix. If we all get together we might be able to actually get someone's attention.

could that be a paying gig? lol. Actually a great idea. Let's all give it some thought & figure out how to get it rolling.

But after thinking about going back to school to get my doctorate, I figure I'll devote the remainder of my life to research and higher education. Of course, I'd be happy to join ANY movement of the sort. Just give me a holler!!

It's always been there, we just don't see the wall until we hit it.

There is no chance for work.

You just have to cobble stuff together to see if you can make enough to survive.

I think this will be my last year with insurance because it has gotten so expensive a simply can't pay for it and still eat. Fortunately I have good health - so far.

I was stunned the first time I read a DU'er talking smack about those born before 1960. I ran around with an exploded head and hair on fire for a week.

edit typo

Older people are more expensive and risky to hire and insure.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:4RzQkJqnO6sJ:agingandwork.bc.edu/documents/IB08_HealthInsurance.pdf+tying+employment+to+health+insurance+older+more+expensive+for+businesses&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShsDeN-lGargV6DF_3hLQIlbk-jTiOSGs0KtkDrU3ARNtc1_t0tjxFmUUzqLtyiNHn54szKDKyJKcidxqk1VeBnXlOMKUDhDoichiP_AhE-b6EfcMmtqseZdJHgdQQDTN1SxWRW&sig=AHIEtbQDLhDmXLSyot5q25M600yh6d4OZQ

still can't find work - even tho the employer would not have to pay for it.

a person old enough for medicare also has the option to retire and take social security, even if it's early

a woman age 40 who will never work again, or a woman my age who will never work again, i can neither get medicare nor social security

forgive me for thinking the age discrimination and the harm done falls MUCH more harshly on those between age 40 and 62 -- having NO medical care and NO income is far worse than not being able to get "extra" money but still being eligible for medicare and social security

So anymore, if you are 40 you are simply done in the job market?

I tried to get Claire McCaskill to comment on this problem but all I got back was boilerplate.

I didn't mean to argue that pure age discrimination isn't an issue. Just that this is an additional factor that makes things even worse.

as long as employment is linked to health insurance no employer is going to want to hire a middle-aged person

as a woman i don't have to wait until 55, a woman over 40 is pretty unemployable most places you'd want to work, as far as i'm aware of

Would that be possible? If all of us got together? There would be millions.

But who would we sue?

That would be kind of fun.

"Gray Panthers believe that post-retirement years should be spent in dignity and security. In addition to our strong support for Social Security, we support union movements that gain and protect pension rights for both government and private sector jobs. Existing government pensions must be protected for both current and future retirees." From the Gray Panthers Issues Committee. Keep growling for economic justice!"


https://www.facebook.com/GrayPanthers

The "Silver Legislature" is still going
http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=522283

But a more radical influence could be useful.

The laws on age discrimination need to have sharper teeth.

The problem is that your damages are figured on your future wages, which in many cases are viewed as not that much. So you are just expendable. This is especially true now that younger people are available.

And some small physical disability that you might be able to compensate for, to cope with if there were more demand for your labor, renders you completely undesirable to employers.

It's really the pits. Thanks so much for posting on this. The amount of prejudice is unbelievable.

And Obama is playing on it with his completely unnecessary cuts to Social Security and Medicare. What does he think old people are going to do without the Medicare we have today? Go to quack doctors. Apply home remedies next time they find a lump in a breast or strange-looking growth on their skin. There are some things you really can't cut. Like money for kids' or granny's vaccinations.

Haven't you heard?

That is about the stupidest thing I have heard so far.

Just roll that hospital bed into the elevator and gasp for someone to please push the up button.

but unfortunately, I was laid off when I was 71. Otherwise, I would have worked as long as possible. So, I have been forced to retire.

My father and grandfather were able to work at their long time jobs until age 65 with no demotions, no pay cuts and no pressure to leave. They earned a pension and a goodbye party, rather than a kick out the door.

i believe he was kicked into the self employment/consulting lack of benefits ghetto around age 55, although he was able to work for no benefits well into his 70s as a consultant

some fields really seem to be a young man's, let's get em cheap and throw em away when their degree ages out

my profs used to say the half life of an engineering degree was five years and considering i've known a lot of folks who worked as engineers for only 15 years (aerospace used to be bad for this, but really, even petroleum engineering does it, they all do it)...i'd say anything that's real tech based is a problem because tech changes and they'd rather hire cheap fresh grads and throw away experience

My father retired in the early 80's before the current trend was so widespread.

They want someone who is 25 years old with 30 years of work experience, a master's or Ph.D., and the willingness to work for minimum wage.

:banghead:

My sweetie has degrees/expertise in Electrical Engineering/Chem E./math/physics and got canned at age 46. After that he never had a decent job. Now he's on Social Security and they are taking out his Student Loan money from earning his third degree.

Taking your student loan payment out of Social Security is NOT A JOKE. It's happening.

Me, I never was hired with an income comparable to my skill level, one of them a doctorate (Juris Doctor in Law) and as a female I was pretty much unemployable by 40 or 45 at max.

So now I'm in that hole between too old to employ and now waiting for 62 so I can get Social Security.

and DUers have shown their true colors here in the last few days...since BO put the issue on the chopping block. This has been a real eye opener. Very interesting, to say the least. The party has definitely taken a FAR turn to the right. Not only in policies, but in attitudes. Hateful attitudes.

I'm currently underemployed, cleaning houses @ $11.00 an hour. And my sister, who lives with me- is still looking. She is 53, I am 52.

I don't think I'm an old looking 52, either. I haven't gotten all wrinkly yet, I still have teeth, nice hair and a couple other decent physical assets. But when you get to the interview and they find out how old you are, you get the "well, we're still interviewing an we will let you know" Line. I call it the big blow off.

at first. I think that if health insurance weren't tied to employment, I might stand a better chance.

deceased husband's employer.

but I have a hunch with 70 million boomers hitting geezerhood around the same time...........we ain't seen nothing yet.

Geezers Unite!

the worse the economy gets, the worse age discrimination gets.
So yes I agree with you, as I am also 55 and 8 months out of work.

Therefore, in hard times like this the age for social security and medicare should be LOWERED to 55, not raised.

Of course, race and age discrimination are "officially" illegal, but in practice still occurs.

However, racism and homophobia are worse, as it is like the age discrimination you are facing now, only for our whole life long. It is harder for lgbt to get a job in the first place, and they can be fired at any time in most places just for being lgbt.

That is why passing ENDA is so important, more important than ending DADT. But it was silently killed.

And please say sexual orientation instead of "preference". "Sexual preference" is right-wing speak, as if sexual orientation was a choice.

Didn't mean to offend.

it is just how right wing framing and propaganda can be pervasive, and effect subtle influence on our thought processes if we are not careful.

that is why right-wingers always say "homosexuals" rather than "gay people", because it is subtle dehumanization and demonization.

who says "fags."

He is so weird. I'm hoping maybe he has worn out his idiocy and will no disappear from the face of the earth. Like maybe the rapture on Oct. 21.

Too many people looking for too few jobs. The young get hired first.

so if you are over that then it is a clear violation of the law.

Before that, few lived long enough to be discriminated against.

We just don't here.

At least as long as the jokes, which are still widely accepted.
I think that it has progressed as people have naturally lived longer. Previously, older people were the exception and revered.
I think the beauty culture also has some influence. To some 40 somethings I have talked to, the only thing worse than aging is showing it.

Next question?

single-payer would kill much age and sex and obese and disabled etc discrimination

i work in staffing -- trust me on this one

makeover time:

hair color/style
botox if you need it - gets that mad look off your face
professional interviewing getup
resume - drop dates on education and lose any jobs prior to the late 80's


getting the interview is half the battle. you can do this!

The Corporate Media will do anything to pit groups of people against one another, and one of the areas in which they've been stoking the fires over the past few years is the issue of young folks vs the old.

The generation now in their 20s accuses us older folks of "hogging all the jobs".

Older folks like me are being pushed out of their jobs, and those jobs are either going to lower-paid young people, or to China and India.

I'm 59, unemployed for almost 3 years, with two interviews in all that time and exactly 2 freelance jobs during the first year out of work. I'm not "hogging" anybody's job. As soon as I got in the door for the two interviews, I could tell that they wrote me off because I was "older." Can't prove it, though.

I'm not blaming young folks from getting jobs. It's the fault of the corporations for refusing to hire them and pay them decent wages.

The younger folks need to stop blaming us and go after their real enemies - the corporations and the crooked politicians who toady to them.

Just sayin'

they do. They are young and full of themselves. Of course they want good jobs.

Everyone needs to get together and fight the corporate takeover of our whole social system. Yea, like that is going to happen any time soon.

Corporations don't care about employees. They just need people they can manipulate and then work to death. American workers are treated terribly. And then they get kicked to the sidewalk and run over.

And the corporations simply brainwash them until they do it willingly.

It's pretty awful.

back in the 1960s.


Now we don't trust anyone over 97...

http://thoughtcrimewave.blogspot.com/2009/05/that-which-does-not-destroy-us.html

No, I'm not Old. I'm "Nouveau Old"

When I was unemployed last year, I saw job postings that seemed to be plagiarized from my resume. But without lying about my experience, it's pretty hard to hide the fact that I'm over 50. Most never responded at all. However, I did manage to get a job at an office where I became the youngest on the staff (at 1/4 of what I was making 10 years ago).

before. Some are saying they dont want to work until they are 70. Dont worry, you will be lucky if you get to work after 55. Changing the eligibility age only makes it longer between when you get "retired" and when you can claim benefits.

The revolution is waiting.

and most people don't notice it until it impacts them directly.

“Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill”


:evilgrin:



PS...don't know who said it.

Too bad we can't even vote for democrats anymore. Even the leaders of our own party want to trash the elderly and the middle class.

that's someone who is 25, not someone who is 52. i have no choice except to bide my time. i figure i will be in demand in the next few years when employers start to realize that you get what you pay for, and start hiring more seasoned pros, like myself.