AARP Bulletin - September 2010

7 6.9% 2010

Your AARP ; Where We Stand

By A. Barry Rand, CEO

6.6%

2009

Bulletin™

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLICATIONS Catherine Ventura-Merkel SR. VP, EDITOR IN CHIEF, AARP MEDIA PROPERTIES Hugh Delehanty GROUP PUBLISHER & SENIOR VICE PRESIDEN T Jim Fishman

VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLICATION OPERATIONS Traci L. Lucien

We Champion 50+ Workers
6%

As we celebrate this Labor Day, we are reminded that nothing is more important to our current or future financial well-being
than having a job. We are also reminded that for too many people
50-plus, who want and need to work, there is no celebration. This
Labor Day is simply one more day when
the unemployment o;ce is closed.
Americans 50-plus have been hit hard by
the Great Recession. More than 2 million
people age 55 and over are unemployed; the
unemployment rate for this age group ac-
tually reached 7.1 percent in May, the high-
est it’s been since the late 1940s. Moreover, their average unemployed
term now exceeds 10 months. More than half of older job seekers have
been out of work for six months or longer, considerably more than
the 23 percent at the start of the recession in December 2007. African
Americans and Hispanics have been hit especially hard.
AARP is committed to helping people 50-plus remain in the work-
force as long as they want or need to work, and that includes fight-
ing age discrimination. The U.S. Supreme Court recently made it
much more di;cult for older workers to prove age discrimination.
In a case involving Iowa resident Jack Gross, the court ruled that
evidence indicating age was a factor in job discrimination was no
longer enough. Now age must be the sole factor. AARP lawyers
helped Gross, and we are supporting the Protecting Older Workers
Against Age Discrimination Act, which would restore the burden
of proof to where it was before the Gross decision [see “We Need
to Fight Age Bias,” page 32].
All of this is happening at a time when people are working longer,
either out of choice or necessity, and when the workforce increas-
ingly includes a larger proportion of older workers. A recent U.S.
Labor Department report showed that workers over 65 outnumber
teenagers in the workforce for the first time since 1948. And AARP’s
own research finds that more and more of our members want or need
to keep working past traditional retirement age.
This increase in older workers is having a disruptive influence as
businesses struggle to find ways to manage getting the most out of
a workforce that includes a larger proportion of older workers.
This is an issue we care deeply about at AARP. We have been work-
ing for years to help both older workers and employers bridge the
gap to an older workforce. We have developed job search strategies,
career counseling and information on social networking. With the
organization the Employment Guide, we have sponsored over 40 ca-
reer fairs in 19 high-unemployment states. More than 20,000 people
have found jobs through these career fairs.
We believe that anyone 50-plus who wants or needs to work
should be able to work. It’s not only essential to achieving finan-
cial security, it also benefits our economy. We are committed to
that goal and will continue working to achieve it for the benefit of
people 50-plus and for all of society. ;
3.8%
2002
4.1%
2003
3.7%
2004
3.0%
2001
5%
Looking
For Work
Unemployed
Age 55 and over,
2001-June 2010*
4%
3.8%
2008
3.4%
2005
3.1%
2007
AARP PROGRAMS
Check www.aarp.org/work/
job-hunting for a collection
of tools and tips.
; CONSUMER WEBINARS
Re-careering and job search
seminars.
; THE WATER COOLER
An online social networking
community.

; SENIOR COMMUNITY SERVICE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM (SCSEP) A U. S. Department of Labor-funded program to assist low-income

55-plus workers seeking to re-
enter the workforce.
; NATIONAL EMPLOYER TEAM
A tool that identifies employers
actively recruiting older workers.
; WORKSEARCH
ASSESSMENT TOOL

An online system that provides interest and ability inventories, online training, skills assessments and access to local job openings.

3.0%
2006
AARP and
AARP Foundation
Programs
Check aarp.org/work/
job-hunting for a collection
of tools and tips.
; Consumer Webinars
Re-careering and job search
seminars.
; The Water Cooler An online
social networking community.
; National Employer Team
A tool that identifies employers
actively recruiting older
workers.
; Worksearch
aarp.org/worksearch

An online system that provides interest and ability inventories, online training, skills assessments and access to local job openings.

; Senior Community Service
Employment Program
aarp.org/scsep

A U.S. Department of Labor-funded program to assist low-income 55-plus workers seeking to re-enter the workforce.

3%
2%
1%

0

*Annual averages, 2010 represents January-July Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

EDI TOR AND VICE PRESIDEN T James S. Toedtman DESIGN DIREC TOR Eric Seidman

EXECUTIVE EDITORS Barbara Basler, Carol Simons FEATURES EDI TOR Barbranda Lumpkins Walls SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Barry, Carole Fleck, Trish Nicholson MANAGER, EDI TORIAL COPY Brian Miller COPY EDITORS Don Beaulieu, Victoria Lemley SENIOR EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Roberta Yared EDI TORIAL RESEARCHER Corinne Hayward EDI TORIAL PRODUC TION MANAGER Cathy L. Hall ART DIREC TOR Cathy Kelley

ASSIS TAN T AR T DIREC TOR Anne Masters DIREC TOR OF PHO TOGRAPH Y Michael Wichita SENIOR EDI TORIAL ASSIS TAN T Nicole Williams PRODUC TION MANAGER Brian S. Horting QUALITY MANAGER Mel Baughman PRODUCTION COORDINATORS Roland A. Bland, Sherry Coleman, Judy Skilling

ADVERTISING POLICIES MANAGER Pamela Byrd Berard ADVERTISING POLICIES ANALYS TS Brenda Allen, Mireya G. Donahue

DIR. OF PUBLICATIONS PLANNING & PROMO TION

David Singleton

PLANNING & PROMOTIONS MANAGER Heather Nawrocki EDITORIAL CONTRACTS SPECIALISTS Amelia Jones, Pauline Moukouri

SENIOR MANAGER, MEDIA RELATIONS Michelle Alvarez SENIOR RESEARCH ADVISER Earnestine Hargrove I T SUPPORT Consuela Allen, William Coulter, Matthe w Haines, Nono Kusuma, Bonnie Russell, Josh Singer VICE PRESIDEN T, ADVER TISING Shelagh Daly Miller DIREC TOR, SPECIAL ACCOUN TS Ina Nordstrom NE W YORK SALES MANAGER Peter Zeuschner TRAVEL CATEGORY MANAGER Patricia Slattery ACCOUNTMANAGERS Kelly Burke, Raquel Hagen, Helen Holtzman, Michelle Weisfeld

VICE PRESIDEN T, MARKE TING Patricia Lippe Davis MARKE TING DIREC TOR Bonnie Maglio RESEARCH DIREC TOR Mark Bradbury

ASSOC. DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MARKETING & MERCH.

Laurie Levitt

ASSOC. DIREC TOR, IN TERAC TIVE MARKE TING

Linda Tse Correia

ASSOC. DIRECTOR, MARKETING EVENTS & PROMOTION

Shari Horowitz

SENIOR MARKE TING MANAGER Chris Tedrick PROMOTIONS MANAGER Lisa Van Dyne SENIOR MANAGER, OPERATIONS Christine Edwards ADVERTISING SERVICES ADMINIS TRATOR Lori Cordenner SENIOR ADVERTISING BILLING SPECIALIST Surfina Adams ADVERTISING BILLING ASSOCIATE Tracey Fanuele ADVERTISING SALES REPRESEN TATIVES NE W YORK Advertising Sales Office 646-521-2500 DETROIT Maiorana+Partners 248-546-2222 MIDWEST Zoeller Media Sales 312-782-8855 ATLANTA Mc Laughlin Media Mix 770-888-2212 FLORIDA McLaughlin Media Mix 561-904-9190 SOUTHWEST Carol Orr & Co. 214-521-6116 WES T COAST PPW Sales Group 415-543-5001 CANADA York Media 613-832-0576

DIREC T RESPONSE Adriana Associates212-719-5952

Questions about your membership, change of address, member services? Call AARP’s Member Contact Center at 1-888-687-2277 (TTY [877] 434-7589) or e-mail member@aarp.org