“Pandemic exposes low pay and scant protections for nursing assistants and home-care aides” – The Los Angeles Times
“Personal care assistant Maria Colville leaves home for her job caring for an elderly woman in Watertown, Mass. – (Lane Turner / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
by Rowan Moore Garety
“When she heard friends working at Lowe’s were in line for $300 hazard-pay bonuses, Allanah Smit wondered why her employer, Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss., had no such plans. ‘Healthcare workers deserve hazard pay too,” she declared on Twitter. “Yes, we chose this profession, but we didn’t sign up to fight a global pandemic with ONE N-95 respirator and improper PPE.’
“As a certified nursing assistant, Smit makes just over $14 an hour to bathe, feed, and reposition patients recovering from car accidents, strokes, and major surgeries like hip replacements. When elective surgeries were suspended last week as the coronavirus spread from hot spots such as New Orleans, Smit began caring for patients with symptoms of COVID-19.
“As the healthcare system braces for the full impact of the pandemic, the shortage of doctors and nurses in epicenters like New York has gotten massive attention.
“Less scrutiny has been paid to home health aides, personal care aides and certified nursing assistants — ”
“Age Bias That’s Barred by Law Appears in Thousands of Job Listings” – AARP
ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL SPELLA
With the words they use, employers keep experienced workers from applying
by Kenneth Terrell
“‘This is an excellent opportunity for a recent college graduate looking to get their start in automotive!!’ reads a recent job posting on LinkedIn.
“‘The ideal candidate is a digital native that is fueled by big ideas, driven by measurable results and is inspired to lead,’ says another posting, also on LinkedIn, for a mid-level marketing position at Amazon.
“‘Current College Students — Now Hiring Product Demonstrators!’ says a third ad, from a company that specializes in product demonstrations and wants candidates with flexible hours.
“The common thread through these three postings: Each uses age-biased language that is discouraged by advocates for older workers and in some cases could be legal evidence of discrimination.”
Continue reading this article; click here.
“People of all generations are working together. Do they make sense to each other?” – MarketPlace
“Ellipses and emoji: How age affects communication at work”
One Friday afternoon, Stuart Horgan sent off a big presentation to his 56-year-old manager. “And he just responds, ‘Thanks … enjoy the weekend …’” Horgan, a millennial, said. “I definitely looked at the presentation for probably like six hours that weekend trying to figure out what was wrong with it.” In struggling to understand correspondence stripped of exclamation marks and smiley faces, Horgan is not alone. Older colleagues, meanwhile, are feeling similarly bothered by the writing conventions of people their junior. “OK, now you look like you’re 10,” said 48-year-old Alex Mahlke of emails packed with emoji. “Do we not have language anymore?” How to get over this workplace hurdle? Not in writing, that’s for sure.
“For Passion or For Money, More Seniors Keep Working” – Stateline
“Wilber Ruiz, left, hoped to retire to his native Peru by now, but at 67 he’s still at work retrieving carts and greeting customers at a Giant supermarket in Ashburn, Virginia. – The Pew Charitable Trusts
“ASHBURN, Va. — At 76, Anne Doane is still stocking shelves in a Wegmans here, leaning to fill a display with hairbrushes as Don Henley’s ‘Boys of Summer’ plays over the store’s sound system.
“‘I never saved throughout my life, so therefore I have to do this,’ Doane said. ‘And because I like it. I want to get out of the house. I want to talk to people. And I need the money.’
“More U.S. workers are working after turning 65, both out of financial necessity and to stay busy, a trend the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sees increasing over the next 10 years. The bureau projects the share of seniors working or actively looking for jobs to rise from 19.6% in 2018 to 23.3% in 2028, nearly double the rate of 1998, when it was less than 12%.
“More than 165,000 seniors are working in grocery stores, earning an average of about $31,000 a year. About half of the more than 9 million workers 65 and older are in retail, health care, business services or education, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data and a Stateline analysis of Current Population Survey microdata.”
“The Pay Gap is an Aging Issue” – NCOA
by Lauren Popham, PhD
“We weren’t surprised when more than half of women responding to a survey we conducted with Ipsos said they are worried about outliving their savings. Income is tied to lots of aspects of aging, but the way that plays out once you turn 60 is very different for men and women. One major reason: the gender pay gap.
“A lifelong problem
“Women are more likely to experience financial insecurity than men, and this discrepancy becomes even more pronounced later in life. Making less than their male coworkers means women have less money saved when they retired, and will draw less money from Social Security once they’re eligible. We’re left with sobering statistics like this from the Health and Retirement Study: half of women age 60 or older have household incomes below $39,600, yet the median income for men in the same age range is $55,000.
“Despite entering retirement age at a disadvantage, women tend to live longer and face more out-of-pocket costs for things like medication each year.”
Read this article in its entirety at National Council on Aging blog.
“What baby boomers can learn from millennials at work- and vice versa” – TEDTalk
Recall the 2015 movie, The Intern with Robert DeNiro?
AARP reports, “The job market is looking bright for older Americans who are looking for jobs.
“If you think older workers are sitting around twiddling their thumbs, hesitant to contact employers in a tightening labor market, you’d be wrong. In February, the unemployment rate for those 55 and older was 3.2 percent — nearly a full point lower than the overall 4.1 percent rate for the entire U.S. population and drastically lower than the 14.4 percent rate for teens.”
“For the first time ever, we have five generations in the workplace at the same time, says entrepreneur Chip Conley. What would happen if we got intentional about how we all work together? In this accessible talk, Conley shows how age diversity makes companies stronger and calls for different generations to mentor each other at work, with wisdom flowing from old to young and young to old alike.” – Watch this energizing 12-minute TEDTalk.
“Poll: 1 in 4 don’t plan to retire despite realities of aging” – WorkingLongerStudy
by Andrew Soergel
“CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals’ retirement plans and the realities of aging in the workforce.
“Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they’d like.
“According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 23% of workers, including nearly 2 in 10 of those over 50, don’t expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
“According to government data, about 1 in 5 people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June.”
Click here to read this article in its entirety.
“Most Older Americans Face Age Discrimination in the Workplace, New Survey Finds: Forty-five percent say the growing trend toward delayed retirement is good for the economy.”
“Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think: Here’s how to make the most of it.” – The Atlantic
“The data are shockingly clear that for most people, in most fields, professional decline starts earlier than almost anyone thinks.”
Luci Gutiérrez
by Arthur C. Brooks
“‘It’s not true that no one needs you anymore.’
“These words came from an elderly woman sitting behind me on a late-night flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The plane was dark and quiet. A man I assumed to be her husband murmured almost inaudibly in response, something to the effect of ‘I wish I was dead.’
“Again, the woman: ‘Oh, stop saying that.’
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but couldn’t help it. I listened with morbid fascination, forming an image of the man in my head as they talked. I imagined someone who had worked hard all his life in relative obscurity, someone with unfulfilled dreams—perhaps of the degree he never attained, the career he never pursued, the company he never started.
“At the end of the flight, as the lights switched on, I finally got a look at the desolate man. I was shocked. I recognized him—he was, and still is, world-famous. Then in his mid‑80s, he was beloved as a hero for his courage, patriotism, and accomplishments many decades ago.”
This a “long read” — but maybe just right for a Sunday (or any other) morning. Click here to read this article at The Atlantic.
