Pamela A. MacLean
RedwoodAge.com
Boomers, particularly men, were hit harder by job losses in the 2009 recession than in any prior economic downturn in the last six decades, according to a report from The Urban Institute. This made it one of the worst times for older workers since the Great Depression.
The average monthly jobless rate for men hit 10.3 percent in 2009, the highest since the federal government began keeping these records in 1948. Women workers fared slightly better with an average monthly unemployment rate of 8.1 percent, the highest since 1983.
For men between 55 and 64, last year's 7.2 percent unemployment rate was 18 percent higher than the 1983 high, the report found. While male boomers and men over 64 were less likely to find themselves out of a job than younger counterparts, their 2009 unemployment rates were much higher than they have been over the past six decades, the report concludes.
Older women faced new highs in unemployment as well. Women aged 55 to 64 had a 6 percent jobless rate, surpassing the 1982 levels.
On average, more than 14 million Americans found themselves out of work each month in 2009.
"What makes the current downturn unusual, however, is that unemployment increased substantially for older adults," said Richard Johnson, co-author of the report.
Idle Longer
And once out of a job, boomers tend to remain unemployed longer, putting
pressure on families to opt for Social Security benefits earlier.
More than two-fifths of out-of-work men from 62 to 69 spent more than six months jobless. For unemployed women, about half those aged 55 to 61 and two-thirds of those 62 to 64 spent more than six months without a job by December 2009.
"Many workers age 62 and older turn to Social Security retirement benefits when they lose their jobs," Johnson wrote. But for workers 55 to 61, too young to qualify, 2009 was particularly disappointing.
Older workers' efforts to get back into the job market may have been pushed along by the 2008 stock market collapse in which retirement accounts lost $2.7 trillion between September 2007 and March 2009, about one-third their pre-crash value, according to the report. Although many had recouped some of the losses by the end of 2009, the drop in wealth has forced some boomers to put of retirement, the report concludes.
Prior to 2009, the unemployment rate for men of all ages peaked in 1982 and 1983 at 9.9 percent, but last year's 10.3 percent unemployment rate exceeded it for the first time, according to the nonprofit policy research group.
Male-dominated Fields
While men and women of all ages were hit by rising job losses in 2009, the
recession hit hard at male-dominated industries like construction and
manufacturing. In 2009, more than 14 percent of older construction
workers and nearly 11 percent of older manufacturing workers were unemployed.
That's well above the overall 2009 unemployment rate of 6.5 percent for adults
55 and older.
Joblessness rates spiked substantially above average for older workers in other professions, including mining and information technology, which includes publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications and other information services, as well as the leisure and hospitality industries. This also has regional implications where overall unemployment in Detroit's manufacturing belt, for example, topped 15 percent in 2009, the report found.
And two-thirds of unemployed women over 55 came from trade, professional and business services jobs, including health care, manufacturing and education.
Race was also a factor in joblessness. The unemployment rates were higher among older African-Americans, Hispanics and workers with limited education than older workers. Among Hispanic men 55 to 64, about 11 percent were unemployed, and 10 percent of African-Americans in the same group.
Johnson warned that the rising numbers of older workers remaining on the job underscores the need to adapt labor and employment policies to keep pace with how they are changing the workplace. He pointed to needs for better workforce development programs for older workers so they do not remain out of work for long periods and the need to create more flexible work arrangements for part-time and telecommuting jobs.
