Over 50 crowd treated like dogs in USA

[becxx]

A new study from the AARP shows the over 50 crowd is facing severe problems with unemployment. This means formerly prosperous individuals are suddenly faced with health insurance terrors and even poverty. See the following from the Huffington Post:

"According to AARP, from January 2000 through December 2009, the total number of unemployed individuals 55 and older rose from 490,000 to 2,114,000. The number of unemployed 65 and up rose from 143,000 to 479,000. And the average duration of unemployment for people 55 and up increased 85.6 percent from 18.7 weeks to 34.7 weeks. For people older than 64, the duration went up almost a third, from 24.8 weeks to 32.9 weeks."

According the the article, employers do not want to hire those over 50 because of the related health insurance costs. And the politicians say "no rush" on health care reform. I won't even mention the name of the Minnesota senator who said this because we all know this fact well by now.

Pathetic.

[MineralMan]

1. I finally gave up looking for an actual job. I'm 64. I finally just

put an ad on Craig's List and built a website, offering my services as a web content writer. That worked just fine, and I'm working on a number of substantial projects now, at a decent rate.

I've only had to actually meet with a couple of my clients. Everything happens over the telephone and email. My age and experience actually helped me on this.

I realize that not everyone my age has a salable skill they can contract with. But, it's an option if you do.