General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Baby boomers are killing themselves at an alarming rate, raising question: Why? [View all]progree
(10,901 posts)Progree>To me its stressful to be young, or old old. But 50's is easiest (for me) Indignities of aging? At 50? At 60? Just wait for the 70's and beyond. Anyway, I'm perplexed that most people would find life tougher in the 50's than say in their 20's, or the really elderly. Compared to other age groups, aren't a higher percentage of 50's year olds earning more, have a higher net worth-- again compared to other age groups? On average doing better? <
[font color=blue]diane> I know a lot of under and unemployed people in their 50s and 60s ... Some were forced to start collecting SS early just to survive. It's not enough now to live decently and it will be even less in the future. Add that to low savings, a job market that's almost always been bad and very competitive because of the large numbers of boomers, and you have a pretty good mix of reasons for depression. Plus the corporatist goons keep threatening SS and Medicare. <[/font]
I emphasized compared to being in one's 20's or being really elderly.
The official unemployment rate in April was 13.1% for 20-24 year olds, 7.4% for 25-34 year olds, 5.9% for 45-54 year olds, and 5.5% for age 55+ (BLS Table A-10, empsit.pdf). We all know the official unemployment rate undercounts, but still, I haven't seen any indicators that say that people in their 50's have it tougher than in their 20's as far as employment.
From surveys I've seen, the younger generation is a lot less confident of receiving Social Security than boomers are.
I think it is REALLY TOUGH for people in their 20's and 30's, 20's especially. (I'm a bit over 60).