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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

AARP Survey Reports that Half of Older Workers Who Were Unemployed in Last Five Years Remain Jobless

According to a survey conducted by AARP, 50% of the surveyed 45- to 70-year-olds who experienced job losses during the past five years reported they were either unemployed or had dropped out of the labor force. Among those who had become reemployed, nearly half said they were earning less than in their previous jobs. The report on the survey&madash;"The Long Road Back: Struggling to Find Work after Unemployment" also examines the different experiences between people who had been short-term unemployed—less than six months—with those who had been long-term unemployed—more than six months.

Among other things, the survey found that:
  • 38% reported they were unemployed, and 12% had dropped out of the labor force;
  • 48% of the reemployed said that they were earning less on their current job than the job they had before they most recently become unemployed;
  • 59% of the reemployed who suffered a long-term spell of unemployment were earning less in their current job, compared to 41% who had been short-term unemployed;
  • 41% of those who experienced long-term unemployment are working in part-time jobs:
  • 53% had an occupation different from the one they had prior to becoming unemployed;
  • 25% of the respondents who landed jobs and participated in training or education programs in the previous five years said it helped a great deal in finding a job.
See also AARP's Public Policy Institute initiative on Future of Work @50+.Sources: AARP Press Release (March 30, 2015); Washington Post Wonkblog"Losing a job is always terrible. For workers over 50, it’s worse." (March 30, 2015)

Saturday, March 28, 2015

OECD Encourages Poland To Promote Longer Working Lives as Vital to Improving Poland’s Future Prosperity

According to the latest OECD report on aging societies, while the percentage of old to younger groups is projected to nearly triple from 22% in 2012 to 63% in 2050 in Poland, the proportion of older people in Poland who are working still remains well below the average for OECD countries. Thus, the OECD concludes in "Working Better with Age in Poland" that "further reforms to encourage active aging and longer working lives are needed in Poland. Employers need to do more to improve working conditions for older workers and reduce the large gender gap in employment.”

The OECD found that, in 2013, the employment rate of 55-64 year olds was 41%, compared with the OECD average of 55%, and it was only 9% for the age group 65-69, compared with the OECD average of nearly 20%. Among its recommendations, the OECD says Poland should:
  • Help more women stay longer in the labour market. Further development of care facilities is required to help older women combine work with family responsibilities. Women’s labour market conditions and future pensions should be reformed.
  • Concentrate on preventive measures in occupational health services. Local health services should also have prevention and early identification of health risks as priorities.
  • Make social dialogue a driving force in the design and implementation of policies to prolong working lives, for example, through projects in the “Solidarity Across Generations” programme, which was renewed in 2013.
  • Align employment protection legislation (EPL) across all age groups by abolishing the special protection rules for older workers. This should however be combined with reinforced active labour market measures for older jobseekers to facilitate their quick reintegration into employment.
Source: OECD Press Release (March 27, 2015)

Friday, March 20, 2015

AARP Report Reviews Importance of Workforce Development Programs to Older Workers

The AARP Public Policy Institute has issued a report reviewing public workforce development programs in the United States over the last eighty years with a special emphasis on their importance to older Americans. In "Selected Public Workforce Development Programs in the United States Lessons Learned for Older Workers," Stephen A. Wandner (Urban Institute and W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research), David E. Balducchi (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Wandner and Associates, Inc.), and Christopher J. O’Leary (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) paid attention is paid to services benefitting dislocated workers—that is, experienced adults permanently separated from their prior employers.

The report suggests some policy options to increase the availability and effectiveness of services for older jobseekers making use of the American Job Center Network. These suggestions relate to employment services, training, reemployment bonuses, and public service employment, among other things.

Source: AARP Public Policy Institute New Reports (March 18, 2015)