According to an Associated Press poll published in a CNBC report, more an dmore people report getting more concerned about job loss, bill payments and loss of retirement savings. The article reports that nearly half of those interviewed worry about losing their jobs. 65% of those same people are worried about paying their bills and 68% worry about loss and/or depreciation of their retirement funds.

This article does not give out information about the sample, how it was collected or who was included. Further more, it does not specify what age groups were interviewed and whether and how it differes among such groups. One thing I found really interesting how the article quoted people who are above 40 years of age when inquiring about such issues and concerns. Three of the four people interviewed were above 40.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29275784

A recent AARP poll showed that 16% of 45-54-year-olds and 16% of 55-64-year-olds reported they've lost a job in the last year. 24% of those interviewed among 45-54 years olds and 25% of those between 55-64 year olds have reduced work hourd.17 % of 45-54 year olds and 12%of 55-64 year olds had worked without pays and of those who did keep their jobs, 14-19% took a pay cut. Also, 27% of 45-54 years olds looked for a new job and 22% of them thought that there is a possibility of them being layed off. Similarly, those polled also reported high levels of increased work hours in the past 12 months and some of them reported that they had to take on a second job. Lastly, 12% of those polled reported that that returned to work after retiring in the past year.

This poll conducted by AARP clearly suggests that a good number of older workers are either suffering from the current labor market situation or are aware of its potential threats. The article didnot provide how the sample was selected or how the questions were framed.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i228e1656a5700784095548d0223f3680

Boomers and Spending

A recent research published by Gallup states that average daily spending of Boomers feel from $98 in 2008 to$64 in 2009. Comparititely, Generations X has reported spending $71 this year and $110 last year. Both these age groups seem to have gone through major decline in spedning habits. The boomers represent 36% of the nation or approximately seventy-eight million individuals. Such significant change in their spending habit have some significant implications. The poll suggets that the boomers might be trying to salvage that they lost previous years in their retirement funds and investments. Still they have the highest percentage (38%) of households that make more $75,000 a year.
Since they are such a large population group and make so much money, significant changes in their consumption rates can very adversely affected our economy. The article also suggests that although consumer spending is teh only way to bump up the economy, the boomers are better off saving their money for their upcoming retirement.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/122546/Boomers-Spending-Generations-Down-Sharply.aspx

Money Worries and Age

A recent poll conducted by Gallup on February 27, 2009 of more than 11,000 adults suggests that money worries peaks among those who are in their forties.  Gallup Poll shows that worry about money "yesterday" is at 46% among those who are 40 to 49 years of age. The same is only true for 17% among those aged 70 to 89. This difference is quite significant. 

Furthermore, the poll also measured the differences in terms of gender, employement status and income level. The difference between those employed and unemployed also peaks at 43% for those employed and 55% for those unemployed among people aged 40 to 49. For those who are 70 to 79, the percentage worried about money is at 17% only.

The difference in percentage who worry about money between age groups in relation to income level is same. However, those who tend to make less than $60,000 dollars tend to worry more about money compared to those who make more than that. The study also suggests that women belonging to any age group tend to worry more than men about money. The poll suggests that money worries peak at ages 40 to 49 and reduces with age. 

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116131/Worry-Money-Peaks-Forty-Somethings.aspx

HI!! This is Karishma. I am a second year graduate student with the Sociology department here at ISU. My interests are in social movements, labor movement, gerentology and Sociology of work and occupation. between my undergraduate and gradaute studies, I worked as a human resources researcher in Chicago for a year. On a personal level, am from Nepal and I have been in the US for about 6 years now. My hobbies include cooking, walking and pets.

For this class, am picking issues and policies realated to "Age Discrimination." Age discrimination includes anything and everything include things such as mandatory retirement, legal age for driving, voting, free bus passes etc.  

There has been much research done in the areas of age based discrimination and ageism. Although these two terms can be used interchangeably, Marshall (2007) defines ageism as an attribution of age based characteristics to an individual in forms of social relations and attitudes. In contrast, age discrimination at workplace is defined as the “use of crude age proxies in personnel decisions relating to hiring, firing, promotion, retraining and, most notably, mandatory retirement” according to Manicol (2006:6). 

I am especailly interested in age discrimination at employement. As many research suggest, this occurs at the stages of hiring, working and firing. This pertains to things likes stereotypes attached to aging workers, firing of older  workers, mandatory retirement and screening out older workers when hiring new workers. I am especially interested in the hiring stages. For this class, however, I iwll be focusing on the broad topic itself. I will however keeep in more specific to my interest in some of the written assignments.

Macnicol, John. 2006. Age Discrimination: Historical and Contemporary Analysis. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Marshall, Victor W. 2007. “Advancing the Sociology of Ageism: A Special Section.” Social Forces 86(1): 257-264.