Elderly have troubles finding jobs with discrimination

I always thought it was annoying when I played the computer The Sims 2 when I would have an elderly Sim who was down on their luck but couldn't get anything better than a low paying part time job. The same job the teenage Sims would get.


Mortimer Goth from the Sims 2. Photo from Google Images

Though the Sims is just a game, it illustrates the discrimination that is going on in today's work force.

Walk into the Rock Hill Chick Fil-a on Cherry Road and you will see at least three of their employees who are over the age of 60. The elderly people serving us our eight count chicken nuggets are working the same job and skill level that any 16-year-old high school student could work.

Photo from Google Images

As our economy is failing, many retired people are having to return to work but have found it increasingly hard to get a job because of their age.

Joanna Lahey said in an article written for the Retirement Research at Boston College entitled "Elderly Workers Face Discrimination," that as more 'baby-boomers' retired, they are relying on Social Security Checks along with the population over the age of 65. Social Security is dwindling and many Americans find themselves having to work longer and retirer later.

One of the reasons for discrimination is not because older workers have a lower skill level than younger workers, said Lahey. Elderly might leave jobs with higher wages to go to another job. The elderly worker is expecting the same high pay they might have had at their old job, but since they can not exhibit the same expertise and skills they had in the past, they will not have an equally high pay.

Another reason for age discrimination is that the person hiring for the job is as old as the elderly person applying, said Richard Posner in his book "Aging and Old Age." Posner said that this causes them to forget that they are capable of doing the job.

It is unreasonable for someone hiring applicants to base the person's abilities off of their own, whether the applicant is older or younger. No two people are alike, so it is hard to judge working abilities off of age.

Regardless of the Social Security money issues, elderly people need to be provided for somehow before they go into financial ruin due to the economy.

It isn't expected that an older person will get a job as an engineer at Michelin, but it should be better than what they are generally being given now.

Working the customer service counter at Belks Department Store would be better than working the drive-thru at Chick fil-a.