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Symposium

Social Research, Policy, and Practice

Precarity and Work in Later Life: Experiences of Older Workers in Uncertain Times

Friday, November 10, 2023
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
Location: Room 124

Employees later in their careers often earn the highest income of their lives, enabling them save for retirement while living in relative comfort. Yet many workers do not experience this late-career economic boost and instead face age bias and discrimination, difficulty finding and keeping work, and social and economic inequalities. Using an intersectionality lens, these difficulties often lead to disparities by race, ethnicity, gender, and immigration status, highlighting the varied socioeconomic experiences of older adults. The economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have often exacerbated these disparities. This symposium will highlight the varied experiences of late-career workers since the advent of the pandemic, with an emphasis on lower income workers and disparities by race and ethnicity. Dr. Choi-Allum will describe the results from a nationally representative survey of 2,000 workers ages 40 and older by AARP, highlighting how perceived age discrimination and the sense of a weak economy is driving uncertainty in finding and keeping paid work. Dr. Carr will identify racial and ethnic disparities in pandemic-related job disruption and its associated financial setbacks using Health and Retirement Study data. Dr. Halvorsen will describe the experiences of older, lower-income, and often immigrant job seekers within the federally funded Senior Community Service Employment Program in Massachusetts. And Dr. Matz will outline research with older adults who live in public housing on how social resources obtained partly through work may buffer financial strain’s impact on health. To conclude, Dr. Miller will place the four studies into the broader socioeconomic context.

This is an Aging Workforce Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this symposium, participants will be able to describe specific experiences of and difficulties faced by many older workers.
  • After attending this symposium, participants will be able to identify the role of age bias and discrimination—whether perceived or real—in finding and keeping work in later life.
  • After attending this symposium, participants will be able to identify unique challenges and opportunities to collecting data among more socioeconomically vulnerable groups of older workers.

Presentations:

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Experiences and Well-Being of Low-Income Workers in the Senior Community Service Employment Program

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Cal J. Halvorsen, PhD, MSW (he/him/his) – Boston College

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Low-Income, Marginalized Older Workers: Financial Strain, Health, and Mental Health

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Christina Matz, MSW, PhD, FGSA (she/her/hers) – Boston College

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    A Weak Economy and Age Discrimination Drives Job Uncertainty Among Older Workers

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Lona H. Choi-Allum, PhD (she/her/hers) – AARP

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effects of COVID-19 on Employment Disruption and Financial Precarity

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Dawn C. Carr, PhD, FGSA (she/her/hers) – Florida State University