Older white women having best job luck

[The Straight Story]

Older white women having best job luck


WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- If you're one of the millions in the American job market, you're most likely to get hired if you're white, female and over 55, statistics show.

Women in that category, most likely having some college education, had better luck finding employment than any other group, The Christian Science Monitor reported Saturday.

A Labor Department report said unemployment among adult white women dropped to 6.8 percent in January, down 0.6 percent from December, the Monitor said.

Unemployment for all women, regardless of race, dropped to 8.4 percent and was a key factor in the overall unemployment rate falling to 9.7 percent in January, the report said.

"Just as men have been disproportionately hit by the downturn, there has been a disproportionate improvement for women, especially white women," said Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/02/06/Older-white-women-having-best-job-luck/UPI-43241265512556/

[uberblonde]

1. Probably because....

We work for less and the employer gets a better employee while still paying peanuts!

Not sure that would qualify as "luck."

[undeterred]

5. You took the words right out of my mouth.

[left coaster]

9. Absolutely, that's it. nt

[MonkeyMama]

17. I agree.

[mzteris]

18. they don't have small children

at home to take off work for.

And they're probably not "out partying"..

With that said -

I'm NOT having luck - though I'm not "over 55" I'm not that far away from it.

My biggest problem is that I've been a "stay-at-home-mom" for the past 16 years. Even though I graduated in 2002 with a 4.0 from NC State University. Even though my "office skills" are still "way above average". Even though I was in HR management when I "stopped working". Even though I'm very computer literate. Even though I've stayed active with volunteer work and have probably some of the best "multi-tasking" ability on the planet based on juggling my kids' myriad activities. lol...

I interview well. I have great "skills". I am very intelligent. BUT . . . I have no recent paid work experience (except for the little bit of temp work in the last few months), my references? They're dead, retired, missing, moved, married/divorced (can't track the name), or the company is out of business. I can only find "one" out of previous 25 something years of work experience.

[havocmom]

20. And we are rarely surprised by various forms of abuse

We have pretty much seen it all, all our lives. It hardly registers anymore; just SSDD.

[SoCalDem]

22. and because women "of that age" tend to be healthier than the men

and their child-rearing is done.. they may also be single (and "able' to work any shift)..

a 55 yr old woman is not likely to be looking for a job she will leave in a hurry because she's out job-shopping every spare minute.

women "our age" tend to be pretty stable types:) and unfortunately we also do "settle" for less than we deserve.. and at 55, we could be in that job for at least 10-15 years non-stop...

[tonysam]

2. I'll believe that when I see it in my own life. n/t

[Cleita]

3. Yes, I have a part time job and I'm almost seventy.

The boss doesn't have to pay a full time employee and he can yell at me all he likes because I don't give a crap. I don't get emotional. I would rather I had a decent pension, so I could do volunteer work and so a younger person could work in my place.

[Bertha Venation]

4. that helps in thinking of my future

If this trend holds for another few years that is. I'll be job hunting when Mrs. V. retires and we move home to California. Chances are I'll be 55 or older by then.

[lunatica]

6. It's because they're jobs that traditionally are held by women

From the article

(snip)
Employers in sectors that are hiring such as retail, healthcare, education and government may be favoring women, an expert said.

[left coaster]

11. "may be favoring women"

Because women will usually work for less money than their male counterparts. Same old shit.

[JDPriestly]

7. I don't believe this. I know a lot of older women who lost their jobs

and can't find new ones. That statistic cannot be correct.

[FLDCVADem]

8. That's why they are statistics

and not anecdotal.

I don't personally know anyone that has lost their job, but that doesn't mean there is no unemployment.

[EFerrari]

10. Yep. There's something a little funky about this. n/t

[tango-tee]

14. I was very lucky as a woman over 55.

And of course my "case" is purely anecdotal.

I found a new job in my field without a problem. Heard about the opening, applied and was hired within two hours. Perhaps this was the case because - to this day, and that's a pity - my work is in a non-traditional field for women. I've been in aircraft maintenance for 30 years starting as a jet engine mechanic, and it just so happened that the skills I had to offer coincided with what the new company was looking for.

While I make good money at nearly $4,800.-- / month as a station manager (and heaven knows I'm not complaining, since it enables me to support my mom and my sister), I'm still getting paid less than my male counterparts.

I only wish that there were more girls looking into the traditionally "male" trades. The retail and clerical positions with their lousy paychecks and even lousier benefits so many women are stuck with are an employer's wet dream come true.

[JDPriestly]

19. You are so right.

Finally, at the age of 50, I wised up and went into a (at that time still) male-dominated field -- law. But it was too late.

Law firms are built like pyramids. The partners at the top own the firms. They tend to be older and either at the height of their career or already in the twilight years. The older partners hire young (and I mean young as in age-young) associates and out of the associates, pick a few to become partners.

The firms charge less for the associates' work and more for that of the partners. Generally, partners bring in clients and manage cases. Associates do the grunt-work, research, writing, lesser appearances and easy depositions.

Of course, the partners own the equity in the firm and take home the biggest paychecks. In order to keep the game going and the equity growing long enough to retire in ease, the partners have to hire associates who will work long hours a long time -- and produce enough income for both the associates and the partners to live on. In some firms, certain really high-level partners may appear more often in court than in their offices.

So, had I studied engineering instead of law, I might still be working. In a better economy, I could probably get good part-time or teaching work in law. But even the big firms are laying off lawyers these days.

[tango-tee]

23. What worries me so much, JD, is the fact that still too many girls and young women

are content with going into the "assistant" jobs. These jobs may be fine - even for years - if one just needs to make some money, but there are so few, if any, opportunities of really advancing.

In my field as a jet engine mechanic, for many years I was the lone female among more than 60 men in the shop. I had the advantage of being married and a mother, so I was Big Sister rather than a potential conquest or (heaven forbid, gaa!, gaaaah!) a threat to "my" guys, dispensing words of wisdom about relationships and such. All the while repairing my engines and signing off the paperwork as an inspector.

Whenever I hear the word "assistant" I just *know* that there is a young woman allowing herself to be railroaded into some dead-end, piss-poor job. One can be an assistant until retirement age, lured along with tales of being oh-so-indispensable. Damn right, girl, you're indispensable because you don't cost the man in charge a whole lot of money. He gets damn good and cheap labor out of you. Never mind your capabilities, knowledge, leadership abilities. There are so many of your talents, so many possibilities wasted.

How do we instill in our girls a kick-ass attitude? Not kick-ass in the sense of steamrolling others, by any means. But by letting them know that they can get out there, gain knowledge in their field, get greasy and filthy without being less of a woman for crying fuckin' out out, progress in their strengths and grow beyond society's expectations of becoming some other asshole's coffee-fetching "assistant"?

Grr. :evilgrin:

[Digit]

12. Unemployed for over a year now and I am over 55

Office jobs that offer insurance are scare for someone over 55.

[Mari333]

13. thats my age

but there still arent any jobs in michigan.

[Kat45]

15. That sure hasn't been my experience.

I've been looking for over a year, with no luck. But wait--I just turned 55 the other day! Does that mean I'm going to be vastly more employable and find a job now?

[undeterred]

21. Probably depends on the field of work.

I work in a male dominated field that pays well- but there is a big gap between male and female salaries; I'm female and thinking this will help me get a job sooner than an unemployed male. But I do see a lot of ads where you don't have to try very hard to read between the lines: they want someone young and at the bottom of the pay scale.

[katmondoo]

16. I found out you can't get a job without a cell phone

You can't get a job unless you go on line and agree to pay for more schooling or pay to get more information. This online looking for a job is a disturbing scam paid for by the very company you may be trying to get a job from.