AIU
SCT210-1104B-09
Unit 1 IP
Robin Lee

Abstract

Unemployment: How does it feel when you lose your job? Does it affect you health? What happens when you are women in your 50’s?

Being unemployed and the impact of unemployment a broad issue.
Unemployment
This topic is close to home. I have been unemployed for two years three months and this has affected be greatly. My psychological being, Finances emotionally and my self esteem.
Psychologically-
Unemployment has been linked with a number of psychological disorders, particularly anxiety, depression, and substance abuse; dangerous behaviors including suicide and violence toward family members or others also correlate with unemployment. These associations hold true not only in surveys of those already unemployed but also in studies that follow one or several individuals with no psychological difficulties into a period of unemployment. Such findings have been reported from many industrialized nations and, with some minor variations, apply to workers of both sexes and all ages. http://www.lexisnexis.com/community/workerscompensationlaw/blogs/workerscompensationlawblog/archive/2009/06/25/the-psychological-impact-of-unemployment.aspx
Finances- I have almost depleted my savings
Emotional- when I first lost my job I cried for days and did not eat. I was just sick to my stomach
Self –Esteem- I stared to question my work ethic. Was I productive; was m work up to the level it needed to be? Did I dress properly, Was I Hard to work with. All of these questions went on in my head. I worked for the owner of the company and there was not a slight hint of me losing my job. Therefore, when I lost it I took it really a shock.
At my age (50) is really going to be stuff finding a job.
Unemployment for the over-50s is 69% higher than before the recession, compared with a 55% rise across all age groups, and long-term unemployment has hit the over-50s hardest with 43% unemployed for more than a year (compared to 27% of 18-24-year-olds). The proportion of unemployed over-50s is expected to continue rising in the next couple of months as public sector job cuts take effect. This is particularly likely to hit female employees who make up three-quarters of local government workforces. Female unemployment among the over-50s has already started rising, and Altmann said the sharply accelerated rise in state pension age for women in their late 50s, as proposed in the current pensions bill, could prove very problematic if these women remain unemployed. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/feb/15/over-50s-hit-economic-downturn
An unemployed person as myself has found it difficult in finding employment, for some its lack of certain requirements. In my case, it is neither. I am an executive assistant with over 6 years of experience; I have my Associate degree in Business and currently working on my BA in business. I have noticed that companies have up the ante on certain job criteria, now I have to have a BA to get the same job that I had without a degree.
An unemployed person will continue to stay unemployed if their lack of qualifications stays nonexistent.
Several elements can affect unemployment.
Economics- If companies are making cuts this means their less jobs to apply for and since the unemployment rate continues to stay at a all time high, the few jobs that are available aren’t accessible to all, it’s who you know now.
Being unemployed makes me feel that I am not able to contribute to my everyday living such as paying my taxes, paying my bills, being productive and taking care of my family. I believe being unemployed can be detrimental.
References

http://www.lexisnexis.com/community/workerscompensationlaw/blogs/workerscompensationlawblog/archive/2009/06/25/the-psychological-impact-of-unemployment.aspx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/feb/15/over-50s-hit-economic-downturn