Anti-Aging Information

As you get older, certain black beasts actually have their basis in public policy. A number of changes may even help you.

Demographers 20 or 30 years ago predicted that as the baby boomers approached and reached adulthood, they would swell the job market. With more workers available, these demographers theorized, actual work hours would decrease, and individual lives would become easier.

Needless to say, things didn't happen that way. Most people are working longer hours today than ever before, and the number of two-income households has exploded. In many instances, it has become easier, not harder, for an employer to exploit you. The way job stress affects you now is to make you worry all the more about whether you're going to have that raise in another six monthsor even a job. Older workers face two disadvantages: Your experience means you command a greater salary, and your age dictates that you are more likely to need and use health care benefits. There are plenty of economic reasons why an employer may want to get rid of you. And they don't even include the built-in societal prejudice against older workers.

There is no easy solution here. In the short term, which is how most individuals confront their problems, we must be constantly vigilant against the worst-case possibilities to our careers. Planning is important. Working toward self-employment may be best for many, although it is unfortunately too often unrealistic.

The only reliable hope is to try to alter the characteristics of the workplace. Health care reform could go a long way toward ensuring the continued security of older workers. Employers, faced with increased health care costs from older workers, may be tempted to cut older workers loose. Should the burden of health care be lifted from employers, perhaps they will be far more likely to hold on to older and more experienced workers.