Unemployment and Older Workers

Over 55 and jobless, Americans face tough hunt, By Susan Heavey, May 15, 2012, Chicago Tribune: “Jean Coyle, 67, has a new kind of ministry. The former professor had just begun a career as a Presbyterian minister in Virginia when the economic downturn forced her church to let her go in 2007. After that, she found only temporary work. She relied on savings while job hunting, but at 64, had to dip into her Social Security benefits. She officially retired in 2010. For spending money, she plans to start teaching a water aerobics class to earn $40 a week. ‘I’m not going to get wealthy on that,’ she said. ‘It’s not really the ministry I expected to have.’ Coyle is among the many unemployed, older Americans who, while struggling to reenter the workforce, have growing worries that their retirement security is at risk. The number of long-term unemployed workers aged 55 and older has more than doubled since the recession began in late 2007. Getting back to work is increasingly difficult, according to a government report being released on Tuesday…”