Older white males hurt more by this recession

[Bill McBlueState]

Source: USA Today

...

Jobless rates for men and women older than 55 are at their highest level since the Great Depression, government data show. White men over 55 had a record 6.5% unemployment rate in the second quarter, far above the previous post-Depression high of 5.4% in 1983. The jobless rate for older black men was higher — 10.5% — but more than a percentage point below its 1983 peak.

The most remarkable change is in the unemployment rate for black women: 12.2%, far below the historic peak of 20% in 1983. Hispanic unemployment is about 6 percentage points below historic highs, too.

In other words, this recession has shrunk the racial gap in unemployment, largely because white men are doing so much worse than usual.

...

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2009-07-29-oldermales_N.htm

---

Astoundingly, even though older black men are 60% more likely to be unemployed than older white men, and older black women are 90% more likely to be unemployed than older white men, USA Today spins these findings as though white people are the ones having a really hard time. I love our new post-racial society. (edit: fixed math)

[varelse]

1. the higher up you are, the harder you fall?

:shrug:

[Old Hob]

46. That could be America's new motto.

[No Elephants]

50. Seems more like just a misleading headline.

[704wipes]

63. dont matter m/f, b/w when you are over 50 u have a target on you

because of insurance, paid days off, workmen's comp, pensions accrual, AND salary and more all combined.
Companies do not like over 50's for all those reasons and more, no matter how you have kept up with things, productivity etc.
And any company or government official who says they don't do it purposely is fucking lying.

I can't wait until all the SMUG 20/30/40's here get there.

I hope I live long enough to see your smug asses come back and say yeah they got me just like you said they would...

BECAUSE they will you smug fuckers..

[varelse]

64. Chill

I was trying to make sense of the headline. That's all there was to my comment. Relaaax.

Everyone is not out to get you.

[JI7]

2. kind of reminds me of some comments made by Barbara Bush during Katrina

since those people already didn't have much their suffering isn't as bad.

[No Elephants]

51. Well, at least now we know where Dummya got his powers of reason.

Not to mention his empathy and his values.

Make momma proud!

[patrice]

3. My good, and recently departed, spouse got up EVERY day and slugged it out with the job boards, even

during cancer treatment, he worked and worked and worked at trying to find a job.

I think his basic problems were that he was too old and overqualified (he was a Yalie). I think he knew that "they" didn't want him anymore, but he never let it get him down, God rest his good soul.

[sharesunited]

7. He will be an inspiration to me patrice. Thanks for that!

[patrice]

11. Thank you, He still is to me too. Though he might have looked like a "loser" to some,

I can say with all of my heart how Proud of him I am.

He was an attorney, part of the PCS->Sprint start-up, a Libertarian with an True Heart. He could talk about Science and Philosophy, knew EVERYTHING about Christianity (heresies, who said what about what and when) but was not a church-goer, ALL kinds of little details of automotive engineering, an encyclopedia of movies, and was a 2nd degree black-belt in Tae Kwan Do.

Paul absolutely kept his dignity all of the way to the "end". He Never required anything from anyone else in order to keep his own dignity.

Someday, I will post the obituary his only child, a son, wrote for him in my journal here.

[leftynyc]

27. Sounds like a very good man

and a real trooper. I'm very sorry for your loss.

[fasttense]

4. It seems age discrimination has come back to haunt the baby boomers.

"Jobless rates for men and women older than 55 are at their highest level since the Great Depression, government data show."

Hide your age and pretend to be dumb, that's the best way to get a job in the USA.

[harmonicon]

8. no shit

My 65 year old mother lost her job this year. She was planning on retiring in two or three years, but now may need to work for even longer, assuming she can even get a job at her age. Of course she's not also older than most applicants, but also over qualified (multiple degrees and a PhD).

[Robb]

10. Or an easier equation:

At that age, you're approaching retirement promised by your employer.

In hard times, they will do anything to fire you and not have to pay it out. Remember this when you count on a pension.

[tomreedtoon]

5. The Republicans want us to die.

And if they pick on older white males - people in their own category - how much worse must it be for nonwhite, non-older people?

This also proves that they are not pro-life, only pro-birth. After the womb, they want us dead.

Since they are so interested in our dying, why don't we get interested in returning the favor to them?

[patrice]

14. I honestly believe that they get high on Death. How else do you explain Shock and Awe?

Capital Punishment? And an obsession with new raw human economic fodder (babbies) to replace the less than worthy humans who do not deserve "our help"?

This is not an exaggeration; I honestly believe that they ARE a Death Cult all dressed up in various socially acceptable personas.

[juno jones]

18. ^this. n/t

[tomreedtoon]

35. Not a Death Cult. Just plain sociopaths.

They have no moral sense. They are willing to do anything to advance themselves. Even kill this country.

And while movie sociopaths always have great intelligence, the real-life sociopaths of the Republican Party and the Harvard Business School are STUPID. They take actions that will ultimately kill them, but they are too dumb to see that. Unfortunately, they won't die until all the rest of us are dead.

[Titanothere]

31. Who's "us"?

Since they are so interested in our dying, why don't we get interested in returning the favor to them?

Maybe you can be a little more clear on what you mean. Who said that older white males were all Republican? I think you're taking aim at a lot of people on this board.

[tomreedtoon]

33. (sigh) By "They" I mean rich executives and Republicans.

And by "Us" I mean ALL of us who aren't rich executives and Republicans.

I may not have made that clear, having written in anger. My apologies.

And yes, I'm a white not-so-young male who was kicked to the curb and is having trouble finding a job, as everybody is. (The local state unemployment office has full parking lots every workday.) But I fully recognize that people of every race, creed and sexual orientation are getting a big, spiked Republican boot on their necks.

And as conceited as I may be, I want ALL of us back to work, making real products and not freaking overpriced coffee drinks, and making this nation mean something again.

[MadMaddie]

34. I agree with you

I also want to see the US manufacturing goods again....I don't care what anyone says but a country that does not have a solid manufacturing base is doomed. We cannot rely on techology alone in a country this size.

[Titanothere]

47. Sorry to hear about your job struggles, best wishes on that n/t

[Carl Skan]

6. It's because of their salary

As a general rule, the older the employee, the more they make due simply to raises over time in addition to standard promotions.

When you're cutting costs and you have a choice of laying off two Mr. Old Timers who make 60k or three Mr. Wet Bedind the Ears who make 40k, it's easy to eliminate the higher paid people. Many times you can save net layoffs by getting rid of the people who make the most instead of a "last in first out" approach.

[treestar]

19. so why not just say I'll take 40K and you'll have my years of experience

for 40K? Do workers in this country have no idea how to compete?

It's better to have no job than to make 40K? the worker is only worth 40K in the market, so why not work for that?

We have to deal with the reality of the market, and also have a safety net for healthcare or periods of unemployment that are just due to market swings.

[Carl Skan]

20. You make too much sense to make decisions about layoffs.

[Iowa]

21. Nonsense.

"...why not just say I'll take 40K and you'll have my years of experience for 40K? Do workers in this country have no idea how to compete?... We have to deal with the reality of the market"

Yeah? That's how you think? Then why not $20,000? Using your flawed logic, if there are people willing to do a $60,000 job for $20,000, then that should set the rate of pay (and there are plenty of desperate people who would work for $20,000). Why not $10,000? Hell, as long as you worship the "reality of the market", why not just work for food?

This mindset is a right-wing corporatist's dream. It's a mindset they have worked very hard to instill in the rabble. It's their end game; to create a populace so desperate that they will fight over jobs paying slave wages. Decimation of the middle class. A race to the bottom. And rather than blaming the plutocracy who create this desperation, it is their hope that the unwashed masses will blame the workers who resist because they (as you say) "have no idea how to compete".

And now we have someone on DU pushing that very agenda. It's no wonder this country is so screwed up. The people who should know better... even they are easily manipulated.

[KansDem]

23. (+) 10!!!

:thumbsup:

Sorry I couldn't give you more, like (+)50 or even (+)100, but it's the reality of the market, don't you know...

[IDFbunny]

26. All the while bemoaning the plight of the rich. nt

Those poor, poor, put upon rich that are unable to hire us for those $60K jobs and must therefore make up the difference in outsourcing or H1B visas.

[musette_sf]

28. + elevenses

huzzah! well said.

funny how some people want to help the Corporatocrisy force The Race To The Bottom upon us all.

[KansDem]

22. "We have to deal with the reality of the market"

I don't think we need to get into a race to the bottom either by having those of us over 50 competing to see who will work for less. All the while the CEOs are giving themselves huge raises and salivating over the cockfight caused by the suggestion of layoffs.

I know where I work the CEO last year gave himself a huge raise, 35% increase (his cousin is on the board of directors) and now has frozen our salaries and suggested the possibility of layoffs. I know he'd love for us on the lower, older echelons to start scrapping with each other over who's going to work for less...

Besides, after the market meltdown that was Wall Street and the bankers, I'm not certain what "reality of the market" really means anymore...

[undeterred]

44. You have to get your foot in the door to say that.

Nobody likes a cut in pay, and HR people just assume a more experienced worker would not be interested.

[704wipes]

62. HR people know if u cut pay then there is a case for unemployment

at the unemployment rate for the higher wage/ and the company has to pay it anyway.

[HughBeaumont]

56. Er . . .

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Wanna know where THAT sort of stupidity leads? Think that cost of living we're struggling to make payments on is going to go DOWN to accommodate this race to the bottom?

"Compete" . . . How inane and ridiculous. Really. It IS. Unbelieveable. Peddle Republican "FREEMARKETZ" talking points on boards besides this one.

[bettyellen]

57. LOL, do you even listen to yourself?!?!

[opihimoimoi]

9. older wht males backed Bush...now,.. they pay a price

[freebrew]

12. Not this one..

That's a bit of a stretch. I live in * territory and yet at least 35% here voted for Obama.
And I'm an older white male.(58 to be precise)
I am paying the price for the rich assholes to 'live in splendor'.

Generalities like that do no one any good.

[opihimoimoi]

15. OOPPPs... sorry... :o).. "Enough" wht males.......

[patrice]

16. "Mine" didn't. He was quite pleased with, though still cautious about, Obama.

He was a Real Libertarian, but I will never forget the day I came home and he was all intense over the realization that wealth has nothing of Real Economic Value to do, there's just so much spending wealth can do and after that all it does is generate more money which has nothing but an abstract value.

I think he had, not a political, but an instinctual revulsion for the Bush royalty and I know he was afraid of McCain, for our country, said that McCain was certifiably insane.

[patrice]

17. P.S. "My" Libertarian actually registered to vote for the first time in decades, because of Obama.

[musette_sf]

29. you're lucky.

MY "libertarian" actually registered to vote for the first time in over a decade.

and voted for Ron Paul.

:nuke:

[Blue_Tires]

13. i agree with your comments

about USA Today playing fast and loose with the math...Sadly, this COULD have been a decent story on ageism in the workplace AND the need for single-payer, instead, the conclusion is "OMG the brown peoples are taking your jobs and retirements!"

[followthemoney]

24. Reminds me of a joke about a man with a cripled hand.

God, please make my crippled hand the same as my good one.

So God crippled his other hand.

See how the bastards are finally bringing equality?

[midnight]

25. I'm thinking that the white older males are hurt the most, because they

are the population that is/was more gainfully employed.

[Titanothere]

32. and they've probably been in the same job the longest time

thus having a more constrained skill set. However, if tomreedtoon gets his way (comment #5) they won't live to retirement

[Hannah Bell]

30. Older men have been falling off the employment rolls since the 80s,

especially at the bottom of the pay hierarchy.

This is the continuation of a general trend.

[No Elephants]

36. Older white males did better than older white females and minorities of both genders. Film at 11.

Same old, same old. (no pun intended).

[Zhade]

37. I have something for these people, many of whom voted for the very politicians who fucked us over:

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[No Elephants]

52. Sorry. Misread the thread.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[No Elephants]

53. Self delete.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Missy Vixen]

58. We sure as hell didn't

I can hardly wait till it's your turn. That's an evil thing to say, but when you spend eight months wondering why you can't find a job despite hundreds of resumes sent out, scores of interviews and networking all day, every day, then you can tell me how to feel about your statement.

:mad:

[sofa king]

38. Reminds me of a bitter conversation I had about ten years ago.

A family member was raking me over the coals, telling me I needed to get a good job so I could have something to retire on.

I said that there was no point in doing that since no employer would ever allow me to reach retirement, and even if I did the pension fund would be stolen long before I got a piece of it. Then I pointed at my old man and said, "it's gonna happen to you, too." The next year, he was laid off, eighteen months short of full retirement. The company that laid him off was the company that first hired him out of college, in 1959. He gets around $200 a month.

[MellowDem]

39. I think the title is stupid...

but the results the expound upon are very interesting and do indeed seem to indicate that the racial gap has closed somewhat since 1983 in terms of who is the most vulnerable during recessions (hint: the poor).

[dugaresa]

41. i hate seeing anyone hurt by this recession, and i worry about how the right wing will

try and use it to their advantage when they are the ones who are behind outsourcing and unfair global trade.

i would like to see the majority of americans of all backgrounds gainfully employed, able to keep a decent roof over the heads of their family, feed their families and share in some of the luxuries of life (vacations, a dinner out, going to a movie, etc), plus save for retirement and add to that have a decent govt run healthcare plan.

[DavidDvorkin]

42. Well said.

[anonymous171]

48. But are there more unemployed older black males than older white males?

[No Elephants]

54. If you read the article, the headline is very misleading, as the OP indicated.

And they don't even bother to mention how older white women and older members of minorities other than African American did. But, older white men probably did better than all other older people..

[4_TN_TITANS]

49. I've certainly seen it at my company...

The first round of terminations/early retirements included a handful of men who had decades with the company and will have a rough time trying to relearn the job market.

[No Elephants]

55. Please see Reply ## 36 and 54. If you've seen at your company what

that misleading headline claims, then your company would be atypical of what is actually described in the Newsweek article. Older people in general did poorly, BUT older white men did better than most other older people.

[Yavin4]

59. I Have A Question...

USA Today is still around? How is this so?

[Bill McBlueState]

60. cockroaches have also been around for a long time n/t

[Honeycombe8]

61. This is actually old news. I read about the older men thing months ago. It's because....

of the auto industry and other manufacturing jobs being lost. It's mainly men who hold those jobs, and those laid off are mainly those with seniority (older men). It's also unlikely that laid off older men will be hired by another company. Why hire an older person in a recession, when a company can hire a person half that age who still has experience?

So, you end up with older men being hit harder.

In the depression, I'd guess that America had fewer manufacturing plants and urban centers, so some older men didn't lose their jobs, since they worked on farms or in rural areas to begin with.

[Chovexani]

65. Well there's one good thing about this

It means there will actually be something done about it for a change