Lisa Simpson
Aug 20,2009
In: Finance

Senior White Males Are More Vulnerable to Recession

senior

Studies are showing that senior White makes are more vulnerable to recession. One of the victims is 56 year old Dean Canaris, by profession an engineer. He worked for the supplier of Honda but lost his job last April. Within half an hour he walked out of the office door with no severance package.

Another sufferer is Harry Jackson who is a pilot and supervisor. He is in his mid fifties. In 2007 he lost his work only to find that finding another was an impossible task.

Owens Corning a unit dealing with insulation discharged 53 year old Mark Montgomery in last April. Now Montgomery is finding it impossible to continue with his monthly mortgage commitments amounting to $575.

These White elderly men hailing from Columbus in Ohio are the victims of joblessness in this recession era. At the peak of their career they have had their wings clipped despite years of experience and quality service.

Recessions are nothing new but in previous ones the senior workers were largely protected from the flood of job cuts according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. The layoffs were focused on the younger people. The younger ones were most likely to face the firing squad. The traditional older males who were the breadwinners – more specifically the White males were least exposed to this danger.

But today the rules of the game have changed. The elderly Baby Boomers are now facing the worst of the financial crisis. Jackson said that he had never dreamt that he would not be able to put skills to work again.

The rate of unemployed for both sexes above 55 is the highest since the time of the Great Depression according to government figures. White males who had crossed 55 showed an unemployment record rate of 6.5% during the second quarter. It is much higher than the post-Depression record of 5.4% during 1983. The rate for older Black males is even higher – 10.5% but it is 1% less than the peak reached in 1983.

There has been a noticeable change in the rate of unemployment for Black females. It is 12.2% currently – far less than the historic 20% high during 1983. The unemployment among the Latinos is also about 6% less than the previous record peaks.

The conclusion appears to be that the recession has narrowed the gap between the races largely because of the plight of White males.